The ATO has enjoyed a super bonanza of more than $1 billion as a result of the misfortune of those Australians who have ‘lost’ their superannuation through lack of action or ignorance. The windfall to the ATO is a result of changes to the super rules that originally took effect from December 2012. Initially ... Read more
Fee hike for small super accounts
If you have less than $1000 in your super account, or you have children or grandchildren with part-time jobs (or starting their first full-time job), then you will be very interested in this article. Not so long ago, the super rules used to look after fund members with small super account. If super account had less ... Read more
SMSFs: ATO supervisory levy must be paid in advance
The ATO supervisory levy payable by SMSFs each year has been increasing in leaps and bounds over the past few years. The levy payable each year now sits at $259 and this amount is payable in advance. For a new SMSF what this means is that you would pay double the SMSF levy in your first year. For the 2017/2018 year, ... Read more
A super summary: 2017/2018 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO)
On 18 December 2017, the federal government released the 2017/2018 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO), which was jointly presented by federal treasurer, Scott Morrison and minister of finance, Mathias Cormann. In the media release accompanying the report, the ministers announced that “Despite the many ... Read more
Concessional contributions caps slashed since July 2017
A single annual concessional (before-tax) contributions cap of $25,000 applies to all ages from the 2017/2018 financial year. Taking effect from 1 July 2017, the Coalition government scrapped the over-50s concessional (before-tax) contributions cap of $35,000, and replaced it with a $25,000 cap. The government also ... Read more
SMSFs: Green light for off-market share transfers
Off-market share transfers for SMSFs remain legitimate transactions, and continue to remain legitimate indefinitely, according to the Liberal/Coalition government. Background: The proposal to ban off-market share transfers was put forward by the former ALP government, but not long after the 2013 federal election, ... Read more
SMSF compliance: Harsher penalties for naughty trustees
SMSF trustees can be subject to a suite of penalties, if they fail to properly adhere to the super rules. The explanatory memorandum that accompanied the relatively new legislation, states that the SMSF penalties, which took effect from 1 July 2014 will enable the ATO to “give directions and impose administrative ... Read more
SMSF pension earnings remain tax-free after death
When a superannuation account enters pension phase, the earnings on assets financing the super pension are exempt from tax, subject to meeting minimum pension payment rules. What this means is that capital gains, dividend income, interest income and any other type of income that the super pension account receives is ... Read more
Broken promise? Government fails to cut SMSF ATO levy
Just over three years ago, in December 2013, the newly-elected Liberal government (and again re-elected in 2016) promised to review the amount of the ATO SMSF levy. At $259 a year, the SMSF ATO supervisory levy had more than quintupled in the 7 years from the 2007/2008 year when only $45 a year was payable. In late ... Read more
A super summary: 2016/2017 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO)
On 19 December 2016, the federal government released the 2016/2017 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO), which was jointly presented by federal treasurer, Scott Morrison and minister of finance, Mathias Cormann. In the media release accompanying the report, the ministers announced that “sustained discipline ... Read more
A quick summary: 2015/2016 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO)
On 15 December 2015, the federal government released the 2015/2016 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO), which was jointly presented by federal treasurer, Scott Morrison and minister of finance, Mathias Cormann. Speaking to the media and to the public, the ministers announced that the government’s plan for the ... Read more
Financial System Inquiry: Interim report expected by July 2014
Note: Information on the Government’s response (released 20 October 2015) to the FSI final report (an interim report was made publicly available in July 2014, and final report published on 20 October 2015) can be found in the SuperGuide article Liberals response to Financial System Inquiry: Super and retirement ... Read more
