The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is big on paperwork and record keeping for SMSFs. As a trustee you are responsible for documenting all your contributions and rollovers – including the amount, type and breakdown of components.
Generally you’ll also need to allocate your contributions to your SMSF members’ accounts within 28 days of the end of the month in which you received them.
‘In specie’ contributions, refers to transferring assets such as shares or a commercial property direct to the SMSF rather than contributing cash.
There are very strict rules on what can and can’t be transferred when it comes to in-house assets – for example, residential property you own cannot be transferred.
If in doubt always seek expert advice.
If your total contributions exceed the contributions caps those excess contributions could attract additional tax.
You can have excess contributions refunded to you, but if you do not take up that option they will be assessed against your non-concessional cap also and if you have breached that cap extra tax maybe payable.
Excess concessional contributions are effectively taxed at the member’s marginal tax rate, plus an interest charge.
Thank you for this information on superannuation. This seems like a great investment. I’ll have to look into finding the best accountant to help me.
That’s good to know you can’t transfer in-house assets so if you have questions you should ask an expert. This would be good for anyone wanting to set up an SMSF so they can make sure that their contributions are calculated correctly. It would definitely be smart to meet with an expert when setting up an SMSF account to make sure it’s done correctly and all the assets that can be added to the account are added to it.