SMSF trustees have been given the assurance they have been seeking to address any uncertainty in regard to the commuting of account-based pensions with the release of the ATO’s Practical Compliance Guideline (PCG) 2017/5, according to a sector technical expert.

There is growing industry concern about the ATO potentially deeming the traditionally straightforward move from a transition-to-retirement income stream (TRIS) to an account-based pension as a new pension interest, a technical expert has revealed.

The complexities of identifying and applying capital gains tax (CGT) relief for SMSFs has resulted in professionals working together to ensure their clients did not miss out on the one-off tax concession, according to BT Advice Technical.

Many SMSF advisers are grappling with which of their clients’ pension accounts to roll back, yet any further taxation changes made by the government will have a significant impact on the final decision, an industry SMSF lawyer has warned.

The ATO’s update to Law Companion Guideline (LCG) 2016/8 has provided the industry with several examples around capital gains tax (CGT) relief in relation to transition-to-retirement income streams (TRIS). LCG 2016/8 “Superannuation reform: transfer balance cap and transition-to-retirement reforms: transitional CGT relief for superannuation funds”, released last Thursday, expanded upon the objective of the clause, […]

Professional advisers will need to be on the lookout for issues surrounding fixed trusts and also question when they are required following the ATO signalling its interest in the area, a specialist law firm has warned.

Tax agents and practitioners affected by last year’s prolonged ATO online outages could take further action to possibly obtain compensation for the adverse impacts on business productivity and damage to client relationships.

Fostering greater collaboration between the ATO and industry bodies, such as the SMSF Association, to help navigate the incoming super measures is essential to building fund members’ trust in the system and ensuring the changes are successfully implemented.

The SMSF Association and the ATO have announced a three-year strategic partnership, which aims to maintain and improve the integrity and professionalism of the SMSF sector, as well as influence appropriate behaviour.