Over 2 million small business owners should take action Number of documents that make up an estate plan? Five One of the reasons people give for not sorting out their estate planning is that they don’t think they have enough assets to warrant an estate plan. Most people are dead wrong about that. There are […]
Peter Townsend
ASIC now allowing SMSFs access to wholesale investment products
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 that it will loosen the constraints on SMSFs investing in wholesale products and make the test for eligibility easier to meet. “It is somewhat curious […]
Why do so many people not have a will?
2/3rds of existing wills are likely to be out of date More onerous revenue claims against wills/estates have led to the increasing desire to protect estates from future claims ‘Blended families creates potential for unhappy spouses and step children contesting the will Peter Townsend – Principal – Townsends Business & Corporate Lawyers The current available […]
An informal will is not enough!
As part of dividing an estate, parties involved are required to conduct rigorous searches to locate a will that a person may have left behind. Movies often show characters finding wills hidden in walls or in between books, but a recent court case has now shown that searches for wills might need to go further […]
The New Danger for SMSFs with Zero Interest Related Party Loans
A number of recent private binding rulings released by the ATO concern limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBA) related party loans and appear to have foreshadowed dire tax implications for such arrangements which may be found to have uncommercial loan terms. Of most concern is the ATO’s warning that income generated from a LRBA may […]
Be wary of discount SMSF products — trustees hit with heavy penalties for poor product choice if they are not careful in ensuring SMSF compliance
No such thing as a free lunch – Be wary of discount SMSF products New SMSF ‘speeding fines’ penalties could see trustees hit with heavy penalties for poor product choice if they are not careful in ensuring fund compliance They say the best things in life are free, however a recent ASIC investigation has revealed […]
‘Speeding fines’ return for SMSF trustee breaches
Proposed powers are planned to come into effect on 1 July 2014 Heaviest proposed penalty is $10,700 for breaches of lending or providing financial assistance to members and their relatives, breach of in-house asset etc Expected minimum of $150 million in fines to be collected from SMSF sector First it was in, then it was […]
Potential changes to unwinding a super fund borrowing: Peter Townsend
While determination is not finalised, if implemented as proposed, it’s likely to mean that the imperative to promptly transfer the title of the acquired asset from the Holding Trustee to the Fund Trustee is removed Good for Trustees who don’t want to incur the expense of the transfer of the asset to the Fund. On […]