The World Congress of Accountants was a chance for leading experts to respond to thought-provoking and stimulating questions from tax regulations to tech disruption and provide some much-needed clarity on their future impact. A significant area that was explored over the course of the four days was what exactly the term ‘audit’ means in today’s […]
The Royal Commission into misconduct tin the banking, superannuation and financial services industry has revealed some major deficiencies in terms of financial advice provided to consumers. Even though the Commission itself cannot fix or award compensation or make orders to require parties to a dispute to take or not take any action, the media exposure […]
Departure Prohibition Orders (DPOs) have long been used as a tool by the government as a way to stop those who owe debts from leaving the country before they pay their debts, even if they are just going on a holiday. It has been used successfully for more than a decade in the enforcement of child […]
With the introduction of the transfer balance cap of $1.6m designed to limit the amount of capital that can be transferred into the tax-exempt retirement phase, certain events that track the movement of capital in and out of retirement phase, as well as other events now must be reported to the ATO to ensure the correct […]
The Australian Taxation Office has issued a warning to trustees of self-managed super funds that lump sums, or partial commutations, no longer count towards a minimum annual pension payment. The ATO says that if the minimum pension standards are not met in a financial year, none of the payments made during the year can be […]
As the Royal Commission into the misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry rolls on and uncovers more unscrupulous behaviour by the corporate and financial sector, the government is attempting to get on the front foot by addressing the perceived persistent misconduct by proposing to strengthen the penalty framework and enforcement regime available to […]
The breakdown of a relationship is frequently ranked second, after the death of a loved one, as one of life’s most stressful events. With a third of all Australian marriages ending in divorce, and similar statistics in other countries, it’s little wonder that “conscious uncoupling” has become the ideal divorce strategy (and not just for celebrities). […]
Transfer balance cap: ATO highlights admin issues On 30 August 2018, ATO Assistant Commissioner Superannuation Tara McLachlan gave a speech on “Administration issues under the transfer balance cap” at the Tax Institute Sixth National Superannuation Conference. Ms McLachlan highlighted several issues regarding common superannuation events that will need to be reported to the ATO (such […]
Transfer balance cap: ATO highlights admin issues On 30 August 2018, ATO Assistant Commissioner Superannuation Tara McLachlan gave a speech on Administration issues under the transfer balance cap at the Tax Institute Sixth National Superannuation Conference. She highlighted the following: Common events that will need to be reported include: the start of new pensions which […]
In a speech given earlier this month, ATO assistant commissioner Dana Fleming highlighted seven key mistakes SMSF trustees make when establishing their funds. Despite the continued growth in SMSF membership, key mistakes are still being made when it comes to the set-up of funds, the ATO has revealed. Ms Fleming said that common errors include […]