ASIC now allowing SMSFs access to wholesale investment products

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Until recently SMSFs couldn’t buy wholesale financial products because ASIC had held they were retail investors unless they had at least $10 million of net assets. ASIC has recently announced

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ATO confirms SMSF contribution member-test

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The ATO has confirmed the long held view that a rollover/benefit transfer to an SMSF in respect of a member will be treated as a contribution for the purpose of

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Why do so many people not have a will?

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And 2/3rds of existing wills are likely to be out of date  More onerous revenue claims against wills/estates have led to the increasing desire to protect estates from future claims ‘Blended

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Can my SMSF enjoy the land tax threshold?

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What is land tax and how much will it cost me? Land tax is a tax payable by owners of land on the value of all taxable land they own

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Are all deeds the same, or simply ‘fungibles’?

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… A vanilla unit trust deed may not be the best form of a deed for SMSF investments All deeds are not the same.  A deed to establish a discretionary

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Top 10 tips for SMSFs in new FY – Super changes galore post July 1

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After surviving June 30 there are changes aplenty in the superannuation arena, says Michael Hallinan special counsel superannuation Townsends Business & Corporate Lawyers: 1.    New powers for the ATO – the

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Contribution timing errors ‘dire’, says lawyer

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Contribution timing errors have dire implications, a leading financial services lawyer has warned. ‘Now is the time to check and double check those contribution caps,’ says Peter Townsend, principal of

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Renovating property inside an SMSF

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Some investors have misconstrued the ATO’s decision to allow SMSFs to renovate older residential housing. Many have missed the point that renovations can only occur for ungeared property if trustees are

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16 steps for SMSF borrowing

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A typical borrowing by an SMSF has the following steps and the order of these steps is important to minimise any difficulties in completing the transaction. These difficulties can include:

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Can Trio or Storm or Westpoint-type disasters happen again?

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Investors should be warned that Trio and Storm and Westpoint-type disasters could happen again.  Senior finance industry solicitor Peter Townsend welcomed the full report of the PJC on its Trio

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