Written by Tracey Scotchbrook, Policy Manager, SMSF Association As expected, the 2022-2023 Federal Budget has a strong emphasis on cost-of-living relief, job growth and women’s security. From an SMSF (and superannuation perspective) this year’s Federal Budget was a quiet one, and saw continued stability for SMSF trustees. The following is a brief summary of the…
December 6, 2021
The taxing problem of foreign pension transfers (Part 2)
Written by Tracey Scotchbrook, Policy Manager, SMSF Association In my previous article, ‘So you’re thinking about transferring your foreign pension fund to Australia‘, I highlighted some of the important things you need to consider before transferring your foreign pension funds to Australia. In this article I will explore the Australian income tax implications. Where a…
November 26, 2021
So you’re thinking about transferring your foreign pension fund to Australia (Part 1)
Written by Tracey Scotchbrook, Policy Manager, SMSF Association For people who have previously lived and worked overseas they will likely have a foreign pension fund. It is understandable that there is a desire to consider transferring the proceeds of these pension funds into Australia. The reasons for doing so are varied but are often about…
May 11, 2021
A strong Budget for SMSFs | 2021 – 2022 Federal Budget Summary
Written by Peter Burgess, Deputy CEO / Director of Policy & Education, SMSF Association As expected, the 2021-2022 Federal Budget has a strong emphasis on job growth and women’s security. From an SMSF perspective, after a few quiet Budgets, there were some welcome surprises for the SMSF investors in this year’s Federal Budget. The following…
April 22, 2021
Your 2021 End of Financial Year (EOFY) Considerations
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone’s lives, and SMSF trustees are no exception. With the worst of the pandemic hopefully behind us, you may still have difficult questions to ponder as you focus on how best to position your SMSF in 2021-22, as well as meet your fund’s annual regulatory obligations for 2020-21. If there…
May 20, 2020
When failure to meet minimum pension standards comes at a cost
Written by Emma Partenza, SMSF Works, SMSF Specialist Advisor (SSA) May 2020 Overview The primary tax concession for an SMSF that pays a retirement phase pension is the partial or potentially full exemption from fund income tax (15%) on eligible assessable income. However, this is put at risk where the minimum pension standards are not…
November 19, 2019
Are you across the superannuation death benefit limitations?
As an SMSF trustee, you need to take special care when paying death benefits as you are responsible for ensuring that the payment rules are met. Strict rules apply, affecting who can receive a death benefit, the form in which the death benefit can be paid and the timing of such a payment. Click here…
July 26, 2018
Starting a pension from your SMSF?
Superannuation – and your SMSF – is your nestegg for retirement. When you are nearing retirement and looking to reap the rewards of your hard-earned savings it’s your super that you’ll call upon to fund your lifestyle. But to do this, your super has to do two things: Your capital needs to GROW (your advisor…
September 27, 2017
New pension management strategies post 1 July 2017
This Insight Paper summarises the impact of the introduction of the transfer balance cap regime on SMSF pension strategies from 1 July 2017 In particular, a distinction is drawn between segregation of assets to calculate exempt current pension income for taxation purposes and segregation of assets undertaken by SMSF members for other purposes. The transfer…
February 8, 2017
Transition to retirement pensions – back to their true purpose
The changes to superannuation announced in the 2016 Federal Budget have been passed by Parliament. Amongst the changes was legislation which will remove tax concessions for transition to retirement pensions (TTRs) and bring them closer to their purpose of providing income to members as they transition to retirement. Transition to retirement pensions (TTRs) make it…