There are very limited circumstances when you can access your superannuation savings earlier than when you meet what the ATO calls a “condition of release” — which for most people generally means achieving a certain age and retiring. The other limited circumstances mainly relate to specific medical conditions, severe financial hardship or on compassionate grounds....

Trustees of SMSFs can expect a new label in their annual return forms, which the ATO says should be available from the end of May. After the Treasury Laws Amendment (2918 Superannuation Measures No 1) Bill 2019 became law in October 2019, the ATO reminded trustees that additional reporting requirements would be coming there way...

Tax offsets (sometimes referred to as rebates) directly reduce the amount of tax payable on your taxable income. In general, offsets can reduce your tax payable to zero, but on their own they can’t get you a refund. There are two superannuation-related tax offsets for which you may be eligible. The Australian super income stream...

The majority of people who set up their own SMSF say that “control” is a big reason for doing it. There is flexibility and benefits in running your own superannuation fund, but it is also a big responsibility to make sure your fund grows and provides for your retirement. Preparing an “investment strategy” is one...

The super downsizer scheme started on 1 July 2018 and has allowed older Australians to sell their homes and contribute up to $300,000 of the proceeds from the sale into super. Recent figures from the ATO show that more than 5,000 people Australia-wide have made this type of contribution, with 55% being made by females. You...

The latest statistical report from APRA has been released (here’s a link to download it — https://bit.ly/2kIH9Oz), which of course mainly focuses on the APRA-regulated superannuation funds in the retail and industry sectors. But the APRA statistics also make passing mention of ATO-regulated funds, the SMSF sector, which from June 2018 to June 2019 grew...

Operating expenses that are incurred by an SMSF are mostly deductible, however there can be exceptions to the extent that these relate to the gaining of non-assessable income (such as exempt current pension income) or are capital in nature. The following are examples of the types of operating expenses that are typically deductible for SMSFs...

In the year since event-based reporting (EBR) started for SMSFs (from 1 July 2018) the ATO says an unprecedented number of transfer balance cap reports have required re-reporting. The transfer balance account report (TBAR) is used to report certain events and is separate from the SMSF annual return. The TBAR enables the ATO to record...

The income year of 2019-20 has just ticked over, which is also the first year in which an individual is able to make additional catch-up contributions to super through the application of unused concessional (before tax) contributions. These are “unused” if the fund member made less than the legislated cap on such contributions, which was...

Under the superannuation downsizer scheme, people aged 65 and older can make a non-concessional (post-tax) contribution of up to $300,000 from the proceeds of selling what was once their family home. Downsizing enables more effective use of housing stock, and existing contribution caps and restrictions will not apply to the downsizer contribution. The scheme applies...