SUPERCentral News

The maximum dollar value for the loan is determined by applying 70% (or 50% in the case of marketable securities) to the market value of the property as at 1 July 2015 (or if the arrangement was established after 1 July 2015, then the market value of the property at the time the arrangement was established is to be used).

The ATO has issued two sets of parameters: one for real estate investments and the other for listed securities. No parameters have been issued for LRBAs which involve other types of assets such as private company shares and units in private unit trusts

The ATO issued on 6 April 2016 what it termed "practical compliance guidelines" in relation to limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBAs). These guidelines are referred to as "safe harbour" guidelines as the ATO will accept that any related party LRBA (that is a limited recourse borrowing arrangement where the lender is not a commercial lender

You may have seen in the news recently the Women and SMSFs report, jointly released by the CBA and the SMSF Association, indicating that more than half of SMSF members do not have an up-to-date Will or a succession plan...

To ensure that all clients SMSF funds are fully SIS compliant, or to update a number of funds from an individual SMSF structure to corporate, your firm may wish to use our special bulk update service.

While superannuation funds can (if so permitted by the relevant trust deed or governing rules) invest in Collectables and Personal Use Assets - simply referred to as "collectables" - significant changes were introduced from 1 July 2011.

When putting a new SMSF onto the SUPERCentral system the application form for the fund's Australian Business Number (ABN) and Tax File Number (TFN) is now automatically populated.

Both the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) have recently released superannuation statistics. The former deals with the superannuation sector while the latter is concerned with self managed superannuation funds.

One of the more significant statistics from the ATO overview was that for the 2013-14 year, the estimated average operating expense ratio of SMSFs increased to 1.06% (compared with 0.65% over the three years to 2012) and average value of $11,200 (compared with $5,900 in 2010).

This controversy is whether which of the following benefit succession devices takes precedence: a reversionary pension or a binding death benefit nomination (assuming that they are inconsistent and both are valid).