The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is focusing its compliance activity on misleading or deceptive conduct in the marketing and selling of digital or virtual tokens via initial coin offerings (ICO).

SMSF clients who are currently considering entering into a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) should seek to settle before 30 June 2018 to minimise the risk of being caught by the federal government’s new Superannuation Taxation Integrity Measures.

Some SMSFs will find it more valuable to be considered a wholesale client or sophisticated investor rather than a retail investor, but advisers must familiarise themselves with the associated law and relevant tests, according to a specialist industry lawyer.

SMSF trustees are often unaware that if they move overseas for an extended period of time, their SMSF may fall foul of the ATO’s residency rules and they may face a heavy tax bill.

Changing an SMSF from an individual trustee to a corporate trustee structure requires accuracy as mistakes could come back to hit advisers, an industry solicitor has warned.

A lawyer has warned SMSFs using reserves that do not adhere to the sole purpose test to the letter may fall foul of the rules and fail the test as indicated by a recent court case.

Advisers and their SMSF clients need to be mindful of some of the wider tax planning implications of the federal government’s downsizing measure, according to a specialist industry lawyer.

The different rules governing the transfer balance account report (TBAR) for SMSFs compared with Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)-regulated super funds may easily lead to attracting an excess transfer balance cap determination and the associated tax penalty, a technical expert has warned.