Chartered Accountants Superannuation Bulletin Edition 14/08

Welcome to this edition of the Chartered Accountants Superannuation Bulletin.

Issue No 14 /2008 08 August 2008 1. ATO updates 2. News and media releases 3. Charges laid against SMSF trustee 4. Training and development

30 July 2008

Superannuation Consultative Committee

Minutes from the 16 June meeting are now available. Issues discussed include Tax Office IT changes, rebuilding superannuation systems, the national rental affordability scheme and simplifying and streamlining superannuation.

04 August 2008

About SuperMatch

SuperMatch is designed to help you match individuals with information from the Lost Members Register (LMR), superannuation guarantee charge amounts the ATO hold and accounts maintained for individuals in the superannuation holding accounts (SHA) special account.

Government announces new approach for temporary residents' superannuation

Senator the Hon Nick Sherry, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law, today announced the final form of the government measure to require temporary residents' superannuation to be paid to the Commonwealth.

The Institute lobbied heavily on a number of these issues and met with Treasury. As a result there have been significant changes to the measures to reduce compliance costs for superannuation funds.

In summary, the new arrangements:

• Will significantly reduce the compliance costs for the industry
• will allow for the insurance cover of temporary residents as they will continue to be fund members while they reside in Australia
• Will best address the lost member issue
• Will provide the same superannuation payment arrangements to all employees in a workplace
• Will allow for the full payment of superannuation to all former temporary residents at any time following their departure from Australia and
• Will importantly still allow Australia to attract foreign skilled workers to assist us to address skill shortages that currently exist.

Further information will be available in the next edition of Chartered Accountants Superannuation Bulletin.

Information for Indigneous people on superannuation

Senator the Hon Nick Sherry, Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law, has welcomed the updated edition of Super and Us Mob – an Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) booklet about superannuation aimed at Indigenous people.

Free copies of Super and Us Mob are available through ASIC's consumer website FIDO by calling ASIC's Infoline on 1300 300 630 or the ATO on 1300 720 092.

FIDO News

ASIC has released the latest edition of it's consumer newsletter FIDO. Topics covered in this edition include:

• Women and money
• Super in a falling sharemarket
• Making your windfall last longer
• Scammers and debt collectors

For the first time criminal charges have been laid against a trustee of a SMSF fund. The trustee has been charged with failing to ensure that the fund was maintained in accordance with the sole purpose test while trustee of the fund. These charges were brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (the SIS Act).

Now would be a good to time to remind your trustees of their obligations, to ensure that they comply with their SMSF requirements.

To read the full media release please click here

The first online superannuation training session was held this week and over 90 people sat in on the Borrowing By Superannuation Funds session, which was a great result. Check out CPD Live to register for coming sessions.

Superannuation Strategies Seminars

• Seminar 1 - Superannuation update
• Seminar 2 - Investment & Borrowing strategies
• Seminar 3 - SMSF estate planning

Throughout September in Townsville, Toowoomba and Rockhampton. This day provides practical sessions that closely examine the recent reforms and their impact on superannuation.

Chartered Accountants Technical Conference 2008 (Sydney)

Held over two days, 13-14 October, the conference will take a technical and practical approach to the latest issues facing accountants in tax, accounting, audit and financial planning. The conference also contains sessions on superannuation

Audit of Self Managed Superannuation Funds Workshop

Throughout October in Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. With the increase in the number of reviews and audits of self managed super funds to 11,000 and new competency requirements in effect, here's your chance to understand those requirements and ensure you comply.

SMSF Conference DVD 2008

Recorded at the successful inaugural conference in February 2008, this DVD contains all the papers and presentations to view at your convenience.

Disclaimers

This is an initiative of, and has been prepared by the Technical Standards Team of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained therein, neither the Institute nor its employees shall be liable on any grounds whatsoever in respect of decisions or actions taken as a result of using this publication. The information provided is a general guide only and should not be used, relied on or treated as a substitute for specific professional advice or referral to the relevant specific standard.

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