Bank’s wealth arm notes major spike in CGT issues

“Right now, we’re mainly talking to advisers about identifying eligible clients, working out how to apply for the relief, what advisers can and can’t say, and where they need to work with the tax accountant who administers the SMSF around actually applying the relief because it’s a tax relief,” BT technical consultant Tim Howard told SMSF Adviser.

“Although the adviser has to talk from a superannuation point of view and work with the client around what they need to do with their superannuation, they definitely need to be working with the accountant or the tax adviser to actually apply the CGT relief.”

That division of labour between professions is one of the major concerns for advisers to be aware of, Mr Howard said.

“Depending on how the SMSF is run from an accounting point of view, for example whether it’s running a segregated or unsegregated accounting method, will actually affect the way the relief can be applied, so they need to work with the accountant to determine that,” he said.

“That’s certainly not something the adviser can do on their own.”

The first step is identifying clients who are eligible for the relief and the assets to apply it to.

“Make sure your clients, given their position, their account balance, and the types of pension they have, actually make them eligible to apply this relief,” Mr Howard said.

The ATO’s LCG guides should be the first port of call for advisers troubled by the new legislation.

“We’re definitely referring advisers and accountants alike to these guides as the best way to work out how we apply it or what does the law really mean in practice,” Mr Howard said.