http://www.financialguru.com.au Just another WordPress weblog Wed, 19 Jan 2011 05:52:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The recent floods have highlighted potential problems with properties held within a Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF).    For those who might have a property upon which they have borrowed to put into their SMSF, and which may have been flooded, there could be some issues.   The regulations in the case of ... http://www.financialguru.com.au/2011/01/19/what-happens-to-your-property-after-the-flood/ SMSF TAX RETURNS The ATO continues to indicate that it is toughening its stand with Self Managed Superannuation Funds (SMSF). The ultimate power that the Tax office has is to make SMSF non compliant.  This is a drastic step normally reserved for only the most serious of offenses and has the impact ... http://www.financialguru.com.au/2010/11/09/the-ato-is-getting-tougher/ A survey commissioned by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has discovered what anyone in the financial planning industry could have told them at a fraction of the cost.  That is, that the government stuffed it up when it reduced the maximum contribution limits to superannuation. Ask anyone in the street ... http://www.financialguru.com.au/2010/11/09/ato-survey-condemns-government/ The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has advised that it will be increasing its scrutiny of re-reporting in relation to superannuation contributions over the next 12 months.   They are concerned that this activity has arisen from situations where individuals have re-reported their contributions almost immediately after being notified of a breach of ... http://www.financialguru.com.au/2010/10/04/ato-scrutiny-increasing/ There are now some 400,000 SMSF funds out there currently.  The ATO hasn’t got a hope of auditing them all.  Their solution is to target those with particular peculiarities (eg loans) and those who audit the funds.   The article below indicated how this is paying off for the Tax Office in ... http://www.financialguru.com.au/2010/09/24/ato-reveals-smsf-compliance-numbers/ Those who have allocated or account based pensions know that there is a minimum amount that has to be drawn from the allocated pension each year.  The minimum amount is arrived at by dividing the account balance as at 1 July each year by the minimum percentage factor shown in ... http://www.financialguru.com.au/2010/07/01/reduced-minimum-pension-payments-for-allocated-pensions-announced/ The government recently amended the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act to clarify the borrowing rules for Self Managed Superannuation Funds.  The changes provide that you can acquire more than one asset at a time under the one arrangement but only if they are ‘identical to each other’ and have the ‘same ... http://www.financialguru.com.au/2010/06/11/new-borrowing-rules-for-smsfs/ The ATO has recently released a new tax ruling (TR 2010/1 Income Tax: superannuation contributions) that sets out what constitutes a contribution to a superannuation fund. The ruling outlines that a contribution can be anything of value which increases the value of a superannuation fund provided by a person whose aim ... http://www.financialguru.com.au/2010/06/11/what-is-a-contribution-when-is-it-made/ Most people who manage their own superannuation funds are aware that through the use of an ‘installment warrant’ arrangement, it is possible to borrow money within a Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF). The process involves setting up an Installment Trust (A Bare Trust) with a Custodian trustee. Properly structured it ... http://www.financialguru.com.au/2010/03/04/take-care-when-borrowing-via-your-smsf/ The Financial Guru is a strong supporter for the need for people to seek advice. Financial products are complex, tax is complicated and the ability for people to do their own research diminished by the sheer breath of skills areas to be covered. That’s were a skilled adviser can help, ... http://www.financialguru.com.au/2010/01/21/iffp-advisers-not-as-good-as-the-rest/