Posted in Superannuation

If your SMSF has a combination of pension and accumulation assets at any point during the financial year then you will require an actuarial certificate. An actuarial certificate will give you a tax exempt percentage for your Fund.  This will tell you the proportion of the Fund which was tax free. The tax exempt percentage is the total average pension assets divided by total average Fund assets.  This gives the average proportion of assets in the SMSF which were back...

If you are aged over 65 you must satisfy the "work test" before you can make a super contribution. The work test is defined as 40 hours of gainful employment in a consecutive 30-day period. The work undertaken must be for gain or reward i.e wages or salary. Because of this criteria charity and volunteer work does not meet the work test. Should you have any questions in relation to the work test or your SMSF please contact our office. ...

  Self managed superannuation funds must meet the sole purpose test under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SISA). The test is based on the principle that superannuation benefits provide for the members retirement, and any investment decision must be made for the future rather than present benefit. Common breaches include: Purchasing an investment that gives benefit to a member or associate before they retire
  Providing financial ...

According to the ATO during the 2012/2013 financial year 35,000 SMSF’s were established taking the total number of SMSFs to over 500,000.The benefits from establishing a SMSF range from investment control, flexibility with contributions and pension withdrawals, outperformance of industry funds and administration cost savings. Investment control includes being able to invest directly in real estate property and unlisted share investments, options that are not available to memb...

If you or your employer paid concessional (before tax) contributions to a complying superannuation fund you may be eligible for the low income superannuation contribution (LISC). The LISC is a government payment designed to help offset the tax paid by superfunds for low income individuals. The LISC is 15% of the concessional contributions paid into your super fund during the financial year. The maximum payment that you can receive is $500. Are you eligible? To be eligib...