An election promise of no new taxes on superannuation may lead to legacy pension reserves being untaxed when commuted under a proposed amnesty.

The status of all current pensions needs to be taken into account when looking to wind up an SMSF to avoid cancelling any with special treatment.

Legacy pension holders should not wait for proposed budget measures that may not eventuate, but take advantage of recent changes to exit those products.

Minimum payments associated with death benefit pensions need to take priority over those for other pensions to ensure the retention of tax benefits.

Changes to pension rules will allow SMSF members to convert legacy products with excess transfer balances to new products without creating concessional contributions.

SMSFs could be in breach if the fund has used an asset transfer to commute a pension but overlooked required pro rata payments.

A call has been made by the Association of Independent Retirees to permanently reduce the minimum pension and simplify the system’s age bands.

Regulations allowing the commutation of a market-linked pension without creating an excess transfer balance are operational but open for debate.