Treasury’s last minute proposal to count assets under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) towards an individual’s super balance and transfer balance cap will leave financial advisers exposed to risk if legislated.

The federal government’s next exposure draft legislation, which will determine whether assets held under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) will be counted towards an individual’s total superannuation balance and transfer balance cap, is creating nervousness across the industry because it could result in more complex issues to work through.

The SMSF Association has called on the federal government to tweak the existing policy aimed at preventing elder abuse instead of completely overhauling it.

The reasoning behind the government’s proposal to include assets held under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) as part of an individual’s total super balance is still not clear, according to a senior technical expert.

The types of practitioners who will provide particular aspects of SMSF advice remains a little unclear due to the variety of licensing requirements currently applying to professionals operating in the sector, the head of an industry body has said.

There has been much SMSF industry debate and discussion surrounding the introduction of new legislation as a result of the reforms from the 2016 budget. 

Revenue and Financial Services Minister Kelly O’Dwyer has reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to its changes to the superannuation system, maintaining they are necessary to best safeguard and grow people’s retirement savings.

Advisers need to be aware of the two dimensional nature of the asset segregation rules to understand this type of arrangement can still exist in an SMSF even after the implementation on 1 July of the new legislation governing the superannuation system, an industry educator has said.

The indexation rules being applied to the concessional contributions caps from 1 July under the new superannuation legislation may end up causing confusion for high-income earners in the years to come.