Salary sacrificing to super

28 August 2022

Are you an employee thinking of putting some of your pre-tax income into superannuation to boost your retirement savings? This is known as salary sacrifice, and the good news is that it can benefit you and your employer.

What is salary sacrifice?

An effective salary sacrifice agreement (SSA) involves you as an employee, agreeing in writing to forgo part of your future entitlement to salary or wages in return for your employer providing you with benefits of a similar value, such as increased employer superannuation contributions.

Contributions made through a SSA into superannuation are made with pre-tax dollars and do not form part of your assessable income.

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Transitioning to retirement

28 August 2022

Thinking about easing into retirement and maintaining your lifestyle? The transition to retirement (TTR) strategy can help you achieve this and help you access some of your superannuation while you keep working.

How the TTR strategy works

If you’ve reached your preservation age (between 55 and 60) and are still working, setting up a TTR pension could provide you with greater financial flexibility by enabling you to withdraw up to 10% of your superannuation each financial year while continuing to work.

You can start a TTR pension by transferring some of your superannuation to an account-based pension (ABP), which is a regular income stream bought with money from your superannuation fund.

However, you should keep some money in your superannuation fund to continue to receive your employer’s compulsory superannuation guarantee (SG) contributions, or any other voluntary contributions you wish to make to your fund.

There are two main TTR strategies that can be used to help you:

  • Supplement your income if you reduce your work hours, or
  • Boost your superannuation and save on tax while you keep working full time.

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More super for lower-income workers on the way

19 June 2022

Did you know that lower-income earning individuals who earn less than $450 per month are currently not eligible for superannuation guarantee (SG) contributions from their employer?

The $450 per month threshold also applies if an employee has more than one part-time or casual job and they earn more than $450 per month from all jobs combined. It simply comes down to the amount earned per job which can disadvantage many younger or lower-income workers.

But not for long …

The $450 threshold will be abolished from 1 July 2022 due to recent legislative changes. This means that all employers will have to pay SG contributions for all employees, regardless of how much they earn per month.

The removal of the $450 per month threshold will benefit an estimated 300,000 people or 3% of employees[1], who are mainly young and/or lower-income and part-time workers, approximately 63% of whom are female[2]. These changes will help these workers start accumulating super earlier as well as help address the gap in super savings between women and men.

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Downsizer contributions to SUPER

19 June 2022

Did you know you could invest the proceeds of the sale of your family home to your superannuation, depending on your age and circumstances?

What is a downsizer contribution?

From 1 July 2022, if you’re aged 60 years or older you may be eligible to make a downsizer contribution of up to $300,000 (or $600,000 for a couple) to your superannuation fund from the proceeds of the sale of your home where specific requirements are met.

Downsizer contributions can be a great way of boosting your superannuation after retirement.  As well as the extra capital they introduce, the contributions can also earn investment income that is either tax-free if you commence an income stream with the funds or be taxed at a concessional tax rate of up to 15% whilst in accumulation phase.

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New laws to improve the way super is divided in divorce

7 November 2021

A new law will level up the playing field for divorcing couples to ensure both partners have fair and equitable access to superannuation, particularly during acrimonious family court proceedings.

For many Australians, superannuation is their second biggest asset aside from the family home. In a divorce situation, it’s important that both partners, including those with lower superannuation balances who may have taken time out of the workforce to care for children, get their fair share of available super.

In the case of an amicable divorce where both partners are being open and honest, splitting super is relatively straightforward. Yet it can be much harder to split when there is animosity between the divorcing couple, family law proceedings are occurring, and one partner is being dishonest or evasive about how much super they have.

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The ATO’s eligibility requirements for SMSF trustees or directors

26 September 2021

All members of a self-managed super fund (SMSF) must be individual trustees or directors of the fund’s corporate trustee. Anyone 18 years old or over can be a trustee or director of a super fund as long as they’re not under a legal disability (such as mental incapacity) or a disqualified person.

But other eligibility factors should not be overlooked. To knowingly act as a trustee, a trustee director or an office holder of a corporate trustee (such as secretary), while being a disqualified person, is an offence.

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What the new Your Future, Your Super means for you

5 September 2021

Recent legislative reforms to the superannuation arena are set to change the retirement savings landscape for many Australians.

The Federal Government says the Your Future, Your Super reforms will help ensure superannuation works in the best financial interests of all Australians by removing unnecessary waste, increasing accountability and transparency, and providing more flexibility for families and individuals.

The legislation increases the maximum number of allowable members in self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) and small APRA funds from four to six from 1 July 2021.

The reforms also extend the bring‑forward arrangements to people aged 65 and 66 for non-concessional contributions made on or after 1 July 2020. This change is on top of a previous reform that allowed people aged 65 and 66 to make contributions without meeting the work test.

The excess concessional contributions charge, which currently applies to contributions in excess of the concessional contributions cap, is to be removed from 1 July 2022, thereby ensuring people saving for their retirement are not financially disadvantaged by inadvertent breaches of the cap.

Australians will also be supported to make additional contributions to their superannuation to make up for amounts that they may have withdrawn due to COVID-19. From the 2021-22 financial year, individuals who released superannuation under the COVID-19 early release scheme will have the option of recontributing these amounts as non-concessional contributions, over and above the existing caps.

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Evidencing SMSF property valuations

11 August 2021

The ATO recently clarified the evidence that is required to support real property valuations within SMSFs, particularly in light of the unique challenges brought about by COVID-19.

Under SMSF regulations, assets must be valued at market value in an SMSF’s accounts and financial statements each year. SMSF auditors need to be in possession of sufficient appropriate audit evidence to support the value of a fund’s investments.

It’s worth noting that in 2018, the most common contravention identified by auditors and referred to ASIC was about such valuations. Before a change to regulations in July 2012, the compliance burden was less onerous; fund assets were only required to be valued every three years (except where the fund was paying a pension or it held in-house assets).

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