March 13, 2025
CGT concessions 15-year exemption
Nicholas Ali, head of SMSF technical services, Neo Super
With the ever-reducing superannuation concessional and non-concessional contribution caps and restrictive Total Superannuation Balance (TSB), it is worthwhile remembering superannuants have these potential strategies to build retirement wealth.
The Small Business CGT Concessions offer small business owners a way of contributing sale proceeds of business assets to superannuation and have these contributions exempt from the non-concessional contributions (NCC) cap.
What are the Small Business CGT Concessions?
- There are four specific CGT concessions that may apply to the sale of business assets:
- The small business 15-year exemption
- The small business 50% reduction
- The small business retirement exemption
- The small business roll-over.
Where an asset qualifies for one or more of the small business CGT concessions, any capital gain generated by the sale of a qualifying small business asset may be reduced, deferred, or eliminated.
February 21, 2025
Claiming tax deduction for personal contributions – everything must be in order
Michael Hallinan, special counsel, SUPERCentral
There are four steps that must be completed to successfully claim a tax deduction for your personal superannuation contributions. If one or more steps are missing or not completed, the Commissioner of Taxation has no discretion to overlook those missing or incomplete steps.
To successfully claim a tax deduction for your personal superannuation contributions made, you must – assuming the contribution is made in respect of the 2024–25 financial year – satisfy the following conditions:
- Payment contribution
You must make a payment to a superannuation fund during the 2024–25 financial year.
- Complying superannuation fund condition
The fund must be a complying superannuation fund.
- Age-related condition
At the time you made the contribution, you must be aged 18 or more but less than age 67.
If you have attained age 67 or more at the time the contribution is made, you must satisfy the work test of “40 hours/30 days” in respect of the 2024–25 financial year. It does not matter whether you satisfied the work test before or after you have attained age 67 or if the 30-day period straddles your 67th birthday.
April 5, 2024
Taxing unrealised gains in superannuation under Div 296
Robyn Jacobson, Senior Advocate, The Tax Institute
Australia’s superannuation system has seen a number of significant changes in recent years.
One of the most noteworthy is the proposed additional 15 per cent tax on earnings on superannuation balances above $3 million (Division 296 tax), due to commence on 1 July 2025.
The Division 296 tax was originally announced in the lead-up to, and as part of, the government’s federal budget 2023–24. The details of the Division 296 tax are contained in the exposure draft Treasury Laws Amendment (Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions) Bill 2023 (draft Bill) and accompanying explanatory memorandum (draft EM) which was released for consultation on 3 October 2023.
June 28, 2025
When $9m doesn’t trigger Division 296: the Carlos conundrum
Mark Ellem, head of education, Accurium
Much of the debate surrounding the proposed Division 296 tax has focused on the headline threshold: individuals with more than $3 million in their TSB will face an additional 15 per cent tax on part of their super earnings.
There’s also been a focus on the effective taxation of unrealised capital gains on fund assets and how this is contrary to the fundamental tax rule of only taxing realised gains. However, for this article, I’ll flip this and focus on the effect of unrealised losses and how the mechanics of calculating superannuation earnings for Division 296 purposes fail the policy intent of reducing tax concessions for those with a TSB in excess of $3 million.
I highlighted this in the case study of Carlos that I outlined at the Melbourne leg of the SMSF Professionals Day (May 27, 2025). Carlos has a TSB of $9 million – three times the Division 296 threshold, yet under the proposed rules, he is not subject to any Division 296 tax. How is this possible? The answer lies in the design of the formula, and it reveals a key weakness in the policy framework.
May 15, 2025
Div 296 and withdrawals
Phil Broderick, partner, Sladen Legal
Our recent article on the proposed Division 296 tax has sparked some discussions, particularly as to whether benefits should be taken out and, if so, when.
As a primary point, as noted in our recent article, whether benefits should be taken out should be based on modelling of the advantages/disadvantages of holding benefits inside of superannuation vs holding assets/investing outside of superannuation. For example, there will be scenarios where clients are better off leaving benefits in super, even with the Div 296 tax.
It should also be noted that the commentary in this article is based upon the Treasury Laws Amendment (Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions and Other Measures) Bill 2023, including its proposed start date of 1 July 2025. This bill effectively lapsed with the calling of the election and will have to be reintroduced and passed before Div 296 becomes law. Therefore, there is currently no certainty if the bill will pass and, if it does, whether it will be modified from its current form and whether its start date will be deferred.
