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.

The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) has called for the restoration of the superannuation concessional contribution (CC) cap for those over 50 to $35,000 and reminded the federal government the Henry tax review recommended a higher cap.

The SMSF Association has endorsed new legislation aimed at raising the educational and ethical standards of financial advisers.

The Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) has issued a practice notice clarifying how tax agents are expected to manage cloud-based activities in the servicing of clients.