June 2016 update

Now beyond the halfway mark of the election campaign, the proposed super reforms continue to raise more questions than answers with a range of unintended consequences starting to appear. In particular, the introduction of the lifetime non-concessional contribution cap of $500,000 is causing genuine concern.

This month’s Changing Face of SMSF webinar will take an in-depth look at these proposed measures, help identify some of the potential problems and understand the actions that need to be taken. Add to this the recent extension to the LRBA safe harbour requirements, and you can see that the June quarterly update will be a big session and one not to be missed!

Campus platform

We have been making rapid progress with the production of several new SMSF documents to assist with implementation of key strategies. Over the past month, we have added the following SMSF legal, tax and compliance documents:

LRBA Refinance Facility Agreement (beta)– this allows for SMSF trustees to refinance any existing related party borrowing, in particular where the terms and conditions of the existing loan do not demonstrate an arm’s length dealing (e.g. trustees want to comply with the safe harbours within Practical Compliance Guidelines, PCG 2016/5);
Notice to vary interest rate (beta) – this notification from the related party lender indicates any change to the SMSF loan interest rate for the fund trustees, and minutes of meeting by the trustees to review the change and impact on the fund’s investment strategy (i.e. liquidity and cashflow).
Met condition of release (new & improved) – this notification and trustee minute outlines how the member has satisfied a specific condition of release outlined within Schedule 1 of the SIS Regulations.

We are making good progress on the following documents with a view to releasing the following in June through to early July:

In-specie member contribution – this notification and trustee minute accepts the in-specie transfer of one or more assets into a SMSF
Deed of debt forgiveness – this deed allows for a lender to forgive part or all of a SMSF loan, which the amount to be treated as a contribution.
Partial commutation – where the member elects to receive a pension payment as a lump sum for tax purposes. The minutes allow for both cash and in-specie benefit payments.
Binding Death Benefit Nominations – the death benefit nominations allow for the beneficiary to cascade the nomination amongst one or more beneficiaries, including to their Legal Personal Representative (LPR).

A reminder that these documents are available through our gold and silver membership levels. For our bronze and free members, you can purchase any of these SMSF documents on a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) basis. You can read the previous article on the release of the PAYG option for our SMSF documents, https://smartersmsf.wpengine.com/new-payg-option-for-smsf-documents/

As new SMSF documents are added to Campus, our next step is to progress these to be utilised within our key software integrations including BGL Simple Fund 360. Once fully integrated, the generation of these documents will save significant time by being able to populate the information straight from your existing SMSF software.

View the current list from our SMSF document suite

Facebook ‘Live’ – SMSF Q&A

The recent launch of our weekly Facebook live SMSF Q&A has been a resounding success. Each Monday at 4pm AEST, Aaron takes questions on a variety of topical SMSF issues and shares his thoughts from viewer questions. Each of the Facebook live sessions are added as a blog post to TheDunnThing (https://thedunnthing.com) following the Q&A session.

We encourage you to like The SMSF Academy Facebook page to join us for the next SMSF Q&A.

Watch the previous Facebook SMSF Q&As on blog posts: