Controversial $500,000 lifetime non-concessional contributions cap scrapped
The announcement of the $500,000 lifetime non-concessional contributions cap in the 2016-2017 budget was not only controversial, especially given what was widely perceived as its retrospective operation, but raised many questions as to how it would be applied. The Government has announced that the proposed lifetime cap will not proceed but will be replaced by a new measure.
Extension of time to rectify non-commercial LRBA loans – deadline now 31 January 2017
In our previous Time For Action article the deadline for ensuring existing non-commercial limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) loans were put on commercial terms was 30 June 2016.
Time for action: safe harbour guidelines issued by the ATO for related party LRBA loans
On 6 April 2016, the ATO issued Practical Compliance Guidelines PCG 2016/5 Income tax - arm's length terms for Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangements established by self managed superannuation funds (Guideline)
Non-commercial LRBA loans must be put on commercial terms for the entire 2016 income year
In December 2015 The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) stated that it would not take active steps to review non-commercial limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) loans prior to 30 June 2016. It was recommended that LRBA loans should be put on arm’s length terms by 30 June 2016. If that occurred then the ATO had stated that it would not actively review such non-commercial LRBAs for prior years.
ATO announces 2015/16 superannuation rates and thresholds
The ATO have announced the caps on the amount you can contribute to your superannuation for the 2015/16 financial year.
Has new SMSF penalty regime allowed the Courts to adopt a lenient approach to serious breaches of SIS?
The new penalty regime for self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) may allow a relatively lenient approach where cases involve a number of serious breaches of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (SIS Act) , if the two recent Federal Court decisions of DCT v Lyons and DCT v Graham Family Superannuation Pty Ltd are any guide to how the regime will be applied by the Courts.