A technical specialist has highlighted the different rules relating to exactly when an in-specie contribution to an SMSF can properly be treated as having been received.
Accurium technical superannuation adviser Jason Hurst acknowledged paragraph 20 from Taxation Ruling (TR) 2010/1 lays out the official procedure regarding the recognition of an in-specie contribution.
The TR stipulates: “A contribution by way of a transfer of an asset will be made when the superannuation provider obtains ownership of the asset from the contributor. We accept the superannuation provider obtains ownership of an asset when beneficial ownership of the asset is acquired and that beneficial ownership can be acquired earlier than legal ownership.”
However, Hurst pointed out the application of TR 2010/1 is not necessarily straightforward as the asset relating to the in-specie contribution must be given its own consideration. To this end, he suggested the main asset classes of which practitioners need to be conscious are direct shares and property and confirmed the different procedural parameters.
“With listed securities, because we don’t generally have contracts to sell shares, so the ruling covers that as long as the trustee has a correctly completed off-market transfer form, then that can be the date of the contribution,” he told delegates at SMSF Professionals Day 2025 co-hosted by selfmanagedsuper and Accurium in Melbourne today.
“So the date of the transfer form is usually going to be the date when the person properly signed it.”
In the context of the financial year end, he said if the form is signed before 30 June, the in-specie contribution can be counted as part of that income year.
“With property, the contribution is usually recognised when legal ownership changes hands. So if there is a sale involved, that’s usually at the date of contract settlement,” he explained.
“If there is no sale, there would usually be some legal form and then it’s when the trustee can get legal title of the property that it can be recorded as a contribution.”
To find out about contribution strategies, make sure to attend SMSF Professionals Day 2025. Please visit www.accurium.com.au/smsf-professionals-day/ to register.
