Don’t be surprised at the increased attention to asset values – far better to have the argument inhouse than wait for the ATO to come knocking.

As I wondered what to write for this month’s Meg’s Musings, I looked back over what I said around this time last year. I can’t decide whether it’s frightening or just uncanny that some of the issues that were top of mind back then remain a focus now.

No one is going to disagree – good record keeping is essential for any SMSF. But as the years click over and more work is undertaken online, it begs the question – do we still need to keep all those 'old records'?

A new financial year always brings a new “to do” list. With one month over already, we’ve put together a list of 6 tips that are easily forgotten.

A key ATO ruling (LCR 2021/2) was released today to update the original draft from 2019. It deals with the vexed issue of when transactions between a superannuation fund and another party potentially create non arm’s length expenses (NALE).

It is almost always beneficial to take the refund option – some people will need it to pay the extra tax bill.

New rules allowing individuals to initiate a “bring forward” of future years’ non-concessional contribution caps up until the year they turn 67 (rather than 65) have finally passed. They will apply from 1 July 2020. What quirks should we watch?

Well one financial year ends and another begins. At Heffron we were fortunate to kick off the new year with a (positive) bang – we heard we’d won the 2021 SMSF Administration Provider award from SMSF Adviser magazine.

Since 1 July 2017, $1.6m has been a magic number in superannuation for all sorts of purposes, most notably the general transfer balance cap. Now that this has increased to $1.7m from 1 July 2021, what happens to other rules like segregation?

The first question is simple – they can. This legislation has passed and takes effect from 1 July 2021. The second question is harder – there are a number of factors to think about before diving into a 6 member SMSF.

The concessional contributions cap increases from $25,000 to $27,500 from 1 July 2021 – a good thing for anyone wanting to add to their super. But there’s another change just passed by Parliament relating to the consequences of exceeding the cap.

The end of the financial year always seems to bring on two things without fail – a flurry of last minute tax planning and a trigger for reflection on the previous 12 months.