POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
SMSF cautioned on trustee status
Self-managed super funds (SMSFs) should appoint a company as corporate trustee rather than the SMSF owner to shield them from tax liabilities and penalties, according to CooperGraceWard law partner Scott Hay-Bartlem.
Hay-Bartlem told delegates at the Small Independent Superannuation Funds Association conference that if an SMSF is made non-compliant and it has a corporate trustee, if there is no money in the fund, then the trustee will be liable for any Australian Taxation Office tax assessment and not the SMSF owner.
Normally, any tax assessment is paid for from the fund.
Recent court cases demonstrated that it was much safer for SMSFs to make a company the corporate trustee rather than letting the owner of the SMSF do it, he said.
There are also limitations on individual trustees on how they can vote, and much fewer limitations and more options of who can have the power in a company structure.
Directors can have different powers, and people can have differential voting rights, giving one person more control over the fund than you can have as an individual trustee, Hay-Bartlem said.
Individual trustees have to act jointly, whereas the directors can act by majority, he said.
However, SMSF members had to be careful with some deeds that automatically impose differential voting rights, Hay-Bartlem warned.
AUTHOR
Staff Writer
Money Management staff writers are writers who contribute to the website from time to time. If you would like to discuss the content contained within this article please contact us.
Recommended for you
Australia’s largest superannuation fund has confirmed all members who had funds stolen during the recent cyber fraud crime have been reimbursed.
As institutional investors grapple with shifting sentiment towards US equities and fresh uncertainty surrounding tariffs, Australia’s Aware Super is sticking to a disciplined, diversified playbook.
Market volatility continued to weigh on fund returns last month, with persistent uncertainty making it difficult to pinpoint how returns will fare in April.
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has called for the incoming government to prioritise “certainty and stability” when it comes to super policy.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
90.28 3 y p.a(%)
2
GAM LSA Private Shares AU I
37.08 3 y p.a(%)
3
DomaCom Lot 21 Chellaston Road Munno Para West SA 5115 Australia
31.44 3 y p.a(%)
4
Fidante Credit Suisse Global Private Equity
31.12 3 y p.a(%)
5
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
28.28 3 y p.a(%)
