“Whereas, if you've got blended families, then contribution splitting might not be something that you're looking to review because you're contemplating the future estate planning and where benefits might be directed to a second family versus the first family, which might be against your estate wishes.”

He said from an advice perspective, it’s best to look at the benefits of each strategy and how they may apply to the client’s circumstances rather than having a long list of strategies that you apply to all clients.

Aaron Dunn, chief executive of Smarter SMSF, said, for example, with the concessional contribution cap now at $30,000, it’s also important to know how that may be sourced, whether through employer or member-directed contributions.

“One of the things we should always be going back and doing is understanding whether there has been any available unused amounts where the individual's TSB is under $500,000,” he said.

“Timing becomes really important here as well, because of the fact that we've got employer obligations versus the receipt of those contributions as well, and what we include here is just an important note to say that when it comes to getting it wrong, there's not a lot of relief that's ultimately available to the taxpayer.

“We've seen that for a significant period of time now, where individuals have sought some sort of objection and process through administrative appeal to have those returned and really not had any luck in that regard.”

There are a number of clients who may have one-off income events that occur, such as through the sale of an investment property or share portfolios, that trigger higher income and therefore higher tax.

“By looking at that, you can then review the client’s capacity to put more money into super. Some of these people might have lower superannuation balances, and so they can avail themselves of the carry-forward concessional amount,” he said.

“When we're contemplating a client with a higher cap, because our balance provides that for us, and a higher income because of a one-off event, then we have to make sure that we're aware of Division 293 tax potentially. It may very well be the super contribution that triggers or pushes somebody into that environment by putting them above the $250,000 threshold by making a larger concessional contribution.”

He added that the ATO tried to argue that the carry forward amount was not mandatory, and didn't have to be utilised, therefore, the fact that it was utilised shouldn't have been counted as a low rate contribution.

“The other thing to think about before implementing any strategies is that a vast majority of SMSF members don't maximise both their concessional and their non-concessional cap in a financial year,” Miller said.

“Strategically, we try to promote that and push it as a big opportunity, but what's critical is that you've got to get the contribution in before 30 June to avail yourself to the contribution cap.

“While you might not have a final position on what your assessable income is and what your level of deduction is, if you know that you've got both non-concessional and concessional space, it's putting that money in there in the first instance to then determine what availability you have to such things as the concessional cap, but also the unused cap if you've got a balance below $500,000.”