Super

ATO warns against diverting personal services income to SMSFs. It is reviewing arrangements where individuals divert their personal services income to a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) to minimise or avoid tax.   It has recently issued a taxpayer alert on this matter (read it here). Deputy Commissioner James O’Halloran said these types of arrangements are

• 5 May, 2016

Taxpayers Australia’s coverage of the 2016 Federal Budget The Federal Budget 2016 has a few sweeteners, but not so much that will turn anyone hyperactive. See the links at left for our dissection of all the announcements made in the Federal Budget 2016. And scroll down for a summary of the main points, and Taxpayers

• 3 May, 2016

It would be something of an understatement to say that a spanner has been thrown in the works with the just-announced government plan to set a lifetime cap of $500,000 on non-concessional contributions. So your SMSF trustee clients now have a $500,000 conundrum. The measure is not yet law, and there is no certainty it

• 18 April, 2016

SMSFs: ATO cautions about transition-to-retirement and “lump sums” The ATO has issued a statement regarding SMSFs and transition to retirement income streams (TRIS*), saying that it has noticed over the past year a number of articles and “external presentations” that have, intentionally or otherwise, mis-represented the way these income streams are meant to operate. The

• 13 April, 2016

SMSFs: Your ‘safe harbour’ guidelines have been released. Finally, SMSF trustees can get some assurance of doing the right thing.  The ATO has released guidance on the arm’s length terms (commonly known as the “safe harbour” terms) when an SMSF acquires an asset under limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs). This has been a difficult issue

• 12 April, 2016