At the time when the superannuation guarantee amnesty measure ran its course (it expired 7 September 2020), the Assistant Minister for Superannuation Jane Hume reported the amnesty resulted in 24,000 employers coming forward, with about $588 billion paid into nearly 400,000 accounts. Businesses that qualified for the amnesty by disclosing unpaid SG before the deadline,...

It has long been an accepted standard that the auditor of an SMSF needs to be independent of that fund, and be a third party entity to the SMSF. This requirement is written into the relevant legislation. There have of course been breaches of this requirement, and instances where auditors and/or fund trustees have suffered...

While the ATO has lately been focusing on the rollout of stimulus measures, it has also flagged that audit work is not off the table completely. In late July, when the ATO fronted a parliamentary Senate Select Committee on COVID-19, its representative said plans were to start tax audits sometime between September and October 2020....

A bill has been introduced into Parliament that partially implements a measure to allow an increase in the maximum number of allowable members in self-managed superannuation funds and small APRA funds from four to six. First floated in the 2018-19 Federal Budget, the remainder of the measure is to be implemented through regulations. The bill...

The Federal Government announced a six-month moratorium on evictions of commercial and residential tenants during the COVID-19 health pandemic. This moratorium (and its accompanying code of conduct leasing principles) will inevitably affect SMSFs, which are reasonably heavily invested in real property, according to statistics. LEASING PRINCIPLESA moratorium on evictions means that SMSF landlords face the...

From 1 July 2019, the government adopted new rules that aim to prevent the unnecessary erosion of people’s retirement savings through inappropriate insurance arrangements. As part of the rules, super providers, excluding SMSFs and small APRA funds, are unable to provide insurance by default when an account has been inactive for more than 16 months....

The ATO, as regulator of self-managed superannuation funds, has reported an increase in the number of SMSF trustees entering into arrangements involving buying and then developing property (either with related or unrelated parties) that is subsequently sold or leased. Trustees should be aware that the ATO is taking an active interest in property development investments...

The government is allowing the early release of superannuation and a temporary reduction in minimum pension drawdown rates to help individuals deal with the adverse economic effects of COVID-19. Retirees watching their savingsgo down amid volatile markets will no doubt welcome the temporary reduction in minimum pension drawdown rates to help them better manage the...

SMSFs must transact on an arm’s-length basis. The purchase and sale price of fund assets should always reflect the true market value of the asset, and the income from assets held by a fund should always reflect the true market rate of return. Any non-arm’s length income (NALI) is taxed at the highest marginal rate....

When establishing a self managed superannuation fund (SMSF), one central decision to be made early on is if the trustee structure is to consist of individual trustees or a corporate trustee. Between these choices, you can have up to four individual trustees, or one company that acts as trustee (with that incorporated body having up...