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ARTICLE · 11 NOVEMBER 2010

Avoiding unnecessary duty on self-managed super

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Since 1 July this year, full stamp duty has been payable on the death or retirement of an existing trustee and appointment of a new trustee to a self-managed super fund (SMSF), if the remaining or new trustee is a beneficiary and the fund owns dutiable property.

AustraliaFinance and Banking
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In Brief

Since 1 July this year, full stamp duty has been payable on the death or retirement of an existing trustee and appointment of a new trustee to a self-managed super fund (SMSF), if the remaining or new trustee is a beneficiary and the fund owns dutiable property.

To avoid unnecessary duty implications under the new regime, legal advisers would do well to encourage clients to have all SMSFs reviewed with a view to appointing a corporate trustee and including a non-revocable clause precluding the corporate trustee from becoming a beneficiary.

The State Revenue Legislation Amendment Act 2010 (SRLA Act), which came into effect on 1 July 2010, amended the definition of "special trustee" in s.54 of the Duties Act, so a special trustee must now fall within the definition of a trustee of a complying superannuation fund as defined in s.42 of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993.

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