Smarter SMSF technical and education manager Tim Miller will speak at this year’s SMSF Adviser Technical Strategy Day about the changing contribution amounts and the potential link to the stage 3 tax cuts.
Ahead of the conference, Miller spoke to SMSF Adviser about how advisers could guide their clients on the timing of claiming deductions for personal contributions.
The ATO issued a private ruling in June this year that an individual was not eligible to claim a tax deduction under Subdivision 290-C of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) for a personal contribution made during the income year as they had commenced their pension income stream.
In its ruling, the ATO said that it had received an email from the individual’s superannuation fund stating that the super fund had “inadvertently” reported the account as a retirement account, and asked if it could unwind the commencement of the pension account.
The super fund also said in its email that the ATO provided a ruling for similar situations in the past where it had allowed the super fund to unwind the commencement of the retirement income.
However, in this ruling, the ATO said that “the commissioner has no discretion to allow a deduction for a superannuation contribution where the income stream has been started”.
Furthermore, it stated that to claim a deduction for personal contributions made to a superannuation fund, section 290-170 of the ITAA 1997 stipulates that the person must give their superannuation fund a valid notice in the approved form of their intention to claim a deduction.
However, it flagged that the notice is invalid “if the trustee or retirement savings account (RSA) provider has begun to pay a superannuation income stream based in whole or part on the contribution”.
Miller said this ruling has underscored that clients claiming the deduction must provide their notice of intention to claim the deduction before commencing the pension to ensure that their deduction is valid.
“As we see people with preservation age moving up to age 60 from 1 July 2024, there will be more people who will be in that bracket of looking to contribute to their super and commence pensions,” he said.
“People have to understand that to get the value of the deduction, they need to be able to at least notify the fund of their intention to claim the deduction so the fund can trigger the contribution as being treated as concessional versus non-concessional. This is because that impacts the tax-free and taxable status of the pension.”
“The most important thing around claiming personal tax deductions is the interaction between the timing of the contribution, the timing of the notice, and the timing of the request to commence a pension.”
At the SMSF Adviser Technical Strategy Day this year, Miller will unpack the changes in contribution caps and how advisers could help clients with contribution planning in the 2024–25 financial year and beyond.
Miller urged advisers to consider all contribution strategies depending on their clients’ circumstances rather than only contemplating the idea of concessional/non-concessional contributions.
“Think about how you can maximise the benefits for your clients to meet their objectives,” he said.
“Ask yourself if the objective is to enhance an individual or their spouse’s balance, and how withdrawal and contribution strategies work hand-in-hand. The number of opportunities has grown since 1 July 2024 for clients in that contributions space.”
To hear more from Tim Miller about the changes in contribution amounts and the potential link to the stage 3 tax cuts, come along to the SMSF Adviser Technical Strategy Day 2024.
The SMSF Adviser Technical Strategy Day 2024 will be held in the following locations:
- Tuesday, 15 October at Blackbird, Brisbane.
- Tuesday, 22 October at Rydges, Melbourne.
- Thursday, 24 October at Shangri-La, Sydney.
Click here to book your tickets and make sure you don’t miss out!
For more information, including agenda and speakers, click here.
This conference is produced by Captivate Events. If you need help planning your next event, email director Jim Hall at jim@captivateevents.com.au.
