With over half a million self-managed super funds (SMSF) in Australia, accountants and other advisers are struggling to ensure their clients comply with constant changes to superannuation legislation.
Over the past two weeks Practical Systems Super has been proudly supporting a series of events held by the SMSF Association in a range of locations across New South Wales including Sydney, Port Macquarie and Newcastle.
Francis Waddell, Business Development Manager for Practical Systems Super has been speaking at these events to articulate how the company is dedicated to reducing the administrative and compliance burden of self-managed super funds.
“It’s been a pleasure to attend these events and support the SMSF Association and its professional members. Superannuation legislation is constantly changing and the recent Royal Commission has focused attention on compliance and the need for professional and trusted administration”, said Mr Waddell.
Francis joined Peter Hogan, Head of education and technical of the SMSF Association as he deconstructed the 2019 Federal Budget in these sessions and also provided an outlook on the Australian Liberal Party’s superannuation policy as we head to a federal election on the 18th May 2019.
The most significant policy change is ending the refunding of franking credits. SMSFs that receive franking credits for the tax paid by Australian companies will often receive a refund of the tax paid at the corporate level.
Under Labor’s proposed policy, SMSFs with a member receiving the age pension on March 28, 2018 will still be able to get a refund for franking credits received by the fund under Labor’s “pensioner guarantee”. Those who begin to receive the age pension after this date will not be eligible.
If elected, Labor has signaled it will cut the after-tax annual contribution limit to superannuation from $100,000 to $75,000.
Further, with Labor proposing to ban new LRBAs if elected, SMSF trustees who believe that a geared investment strategy is right for their fund should consider pursuing this before the next election. This should always be done with specialist SMSF advice and with a long-term investment strategy.
No one understands a clients’ needs like their accountant or financial adviser. Practical Systems Super employs SMSF professionals to support those professionals in ensuring their clients comply with superannuation legislation. Importantly, Practical Systems Super leaves that existing relationship in their hands.
To find out more about Practical Systems Super, contact us on 1800 951 855.