SMSF trustees told to take action on contributions

SMSF Association chief executive John Maroney says SMSF trustees who want to take advantage of the higher contributions that end on 30 June 2017 need to ensure any additional money is in their SMSF bank account before the end of the financial year.

“Trustees sometimes leave it until the last minute to make either concessional or non-concessional contributions, only to discover they have left it too late and those contributions become part of the following financial year’s contribution cap,” Mr Maroney said.

“This year, it’s particularly important they move early with the lower contribution caps taking effect on 1 July 2017. Remember, too, 30 June falls on a Friday, so don’t leave contributions till the end of the last week of June to make a deposit because transactions can take up to two or three days to clear and your funds could become a 2017-18 financial year contribution.”

Mr Maroney said SMSF practitioners need to ensure their clients are still within their current caps for either concessional or non-concessional contributions.

“It can happen that trustees can make a mistake with their contributions, so take the opportunity before 30 June to make sure you are inside the legal limits,” he said.

“Although excess contributions, either concessional or non-concessional, do not have the strong tax penalties that they used to have, going over the caps is still an unneeded compliance issue that is best avoided with the right planning.”

STAFF REPORTER
Tuesday, 6th June 2017
www.smsfadviser.com