The new capital gains tax (CGT) relief contained in the new superannuation legislation to be introduced on 1 July has raised concerns among practitioners as to the length and depth of the advice that can be provided on the topic within the confines of the licensing rules.
The issue was raised at the recent SMSF Association Sydney Local Community Breakfast, with advisers wondering whether the Australian Securities and Investments Commission would be questioning if one practitioner had covered off the whole CGT relief situation with a client.
Specifically, planners are worried about providing CGT relief advice if they are not a registered tax agent as well because the topic is not only a complex financial planning issue, but is intrinsically linked to an intricate tax calculation.
When posed with the conundrum, BT Financial Group senior technical consultant David O’Connell said: “I absolutely agree there is no single person who can give CGT relief advice.
“[A client in this situation] needs to get SIS (Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act) advice and tax advice and both practitioners need to work together to produce the proper advice outcome.
“A [financial planner] generally doesn’t have the level of detail that’s required to make the necessary determinations.”
SMSF Association Sydney Local Community president Liam Shorte said: “[One person] can do it, but you’re better off having a joint meeting between say the accountant and financial planner. I’ve found that anyway.”
