As we know there is tax liability if there an excess contributions, and the followings are tips to avoid exceeding the contribution caps:

For Non-Concessional Contributions

• Fully understand what your non-concessional contributions cap.

• Keep a clear bookkeeping record of the amount of contributions and when they were received by your super fund.

• Any amount that you withdraw and re-contribute to your super fund as a personal contribution.

• You are only eligible to bring forward the next two years of contributions if you are 64 year
old or under on 1 July of the first financial year.

• Always check if your employer, or someone else on your behalf have made any contribution to your fund.

• Always check if your contributions are held in another accounts.

For Concessional Contributions

• Fully understand of what your concessional contribution cap.

• Keep a good bookkeeping record which you can track of the amount of contributions and
when they were received by your super fund.

• Double check when your employer actually pays the contributions to your super fund, as it could
be in the next financial year.

• If you have more than one employers, include all of them when you work out your annual contributions.

• Always check how much contribution you will make before stoping or reducing any pre-tax
voluntary contributions to your super fund.

• Just remember super administration fees, insurance premiums on your behalf to your fund
plus income tax deduction for your personal super contributions will count towards
your concessional contributions cap.

Tax returns for newly registered SMSFs are due for lodgement by:

31 October 2013 for SMSFs who prepare their own return
25 February 2014 for SMSFs who are tax agent clients

An SMSF is not legally established until the fund has assets set aside for the benefit of members. ATO will not process nil returns, and the supervisory levy does not need to be paid for newly registered in the 2012-13 financial year and:
• were not legally established
• had no assets set aside for the benefit of members

A newly registered SMSF did not have assets set aside for the benefit of members in the first year it was registered, trustees or tax agent can ask ATO to either:

cancel the fund’s registration, or
notify ATO Return Not Necessary if the SMSF meets all the following conditions:

• registered in the 2012-13 financial year
• was not legally established by 30 June 2013
• had not received contributions or rollover amounts by 30 June 2013, and has actually received contributions by the date of the requests for a Return Not Necessary

Return Not Necessary is only available for newly registered SMSFs for their first year of registration. Older funds that have not yet set aside assets for benefit of members should cancel their registration and re-register when assets are available.

All SMSFs must have their financial accounts and statements for the fund audited each year by an approved auditor. The auditor must assess the fund’s overall compliance with Superannuation Industry (Superannuation) Act 1993 and associated regulations (a compliance audit) and the fund’s financial statements (a financial audit).

The auditor must provide the audit report prior to the due date for lodgement of the SMSF annual return. The return must not be lodged until the audit of the fund has been finalised.

The loss carry-back law provides a company with the choice to carry back all or part of a tax loss from an income year, or the previous income year, against their income tax liability in either of the two previous income years.

This allows companies experiencing tax losses to carry these losses back against the tax they previously paid and received a refund by claiming a tax offset – know as a loss carry-baccy tax offset.

Eligibility

To be entitled to the loss carry-back tax offset, you need to meet the following:

be a company, or taxed like a company (such as corporate limited partnerships, corporate unit trusts, or public trading trusts), throughout the year, claiming the offset, are carrying losses back to, have a tax loss in either or both the current year or the income year just before the current year, the company lodged its income tax return for the year, the company was not required to lodge an income tax return for the year, ATO made an assessment of the company’s income tax for the year and make a loss carry-back choice.

How much can be claim?

The loss carry-back tax offset for the income year in which company carry back tax losses is the lowest of:

• the sum of the loss carry-back tax offset components for the earliest year and the middle year
• $1,000,000 multiplies by the corporate tax rate for the year the company make a claim
• company franking account balance at the end of the income year the company make a claim.

There are three types of losses that cannot be carried back:

• capital losses
• transferred losses
• excess franking offsets

Company can not claim a loss carry-back tax offset amount that is more than the company franking account balance.

Company claims the loss carry-back will not affect interest on overpayments and late payments.

Property is an popular investment because it generates income and also, if you invest wisely, a capital gain as the property increase in value over the years. Purchase investment property through SMSF gives you access to significant tax concessions on rental income and capital gains on the profit when investment sold.

SMSF income taxed depends on at what stage the fund is in. If the fund is in its accumulation stage, then all income earned by the SMSF, is taxed at the concessional rate of 15% per cent, if the fund complies with super legislation.

When members start to draw on their SMSF for an income in retirement, the fund’s earnings are not taxed at all, if the members are aged 60 or more, and retired, they pay no tax on money they receive from the fund.

If the fund is transitioning from the accumulation to the retirement stage, and a transition to retirement income stream (TRIS) is being paid to members aged over preservation age, the part of the SMSF’s income will still be taxed at 15 per cent.

Income maybe offset by allowable deductions for any expenses incurred in earning this income in your SMSF.

If property owners invest for longer than 12 months and so they will qualify for the CGT discount. An individual is entitled to a discount on 50 per cent of the realized gain from the sale of an investment property. Where a property is owned by SMSF, if one or more members are not in pension stage or income stream, profit will qualify for a 33.3 per cent CGT discount.

Buying property personally entitles to an 50 per cent discount of gain, you pay marginal tax on the other 50 per cent, it could be up to 46.50 per cent including the Medicare levy, while SMSF will only have to pay 15 per cent on two-thirds of the profit.

Where members are over 60 and retired in the pension stage, SMSF could be paid zero tax, depending on SMSF on the stage of the fund is in.