SUPERCentral News

MySuper products are standardised superannuation products which can only be issued by appropriately licensed APRA regulated funds. SMSFs cannot issue MySuper products. These products have prescribed features.

The appeal in one of the most widely-read SMSF cases of recent years - Ioppolo v Conti [2015] WASCA 45 - has been handed down by the Western Australian Court of Appeal.

APRA estimates that at December 2014 - total super assets were $1,930b of which $568b (29.4%) were held in small funds (SMSFs and small APRA funds).

Using 2013/14 and Ernestine as illustrative financial year and illustrative taxpayer - the solution can be explained in four steps.

The original solution to the problem of excess contributions was to confer a discretion on the Commissioner of Taxation which permitted the Commissioner to "disregard or reallocate" all or part of any concessional or non-concessional contribution. Unfortunately, the Commissioner, before the discretion could be exercised, had to find that there were "special circumstances". The requirement for special circumstances proved to be a very high hurdle which most taxpayers failed.

The first attempt (Attempt No 1) at solving the problem of excess contributions was only applied to the excess concessional contributions. For the financial years 2011/12 and 2012/13, a taxpayer who exceeded the concessional contributions cap by $10,000 or less had a once-only opportunity to have the excess contributions refunded.