SMSF

Leasing business premises from a SMSF

Many business owners own the commercial or industrial premises that they use to operate their business from.  Often that property is owned by a Self-Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF).

Leasing business premises from a SMSF is becoming commonplace. SMSFs can be a tax-effective way to create wealth and provide for your retirement, in addition to providing some asset protection benefits however, they come with a requirement to comply with the Superannuation Investments (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) (SIS Act) and its Regulations.

Additional obligations apply when the SMSF is using a limited recourse borrowing arrangement and bare trust when borrowing to acquire the premises and consideration ought to be given to who the members of the fund are and what happens if they were to pass away.

One of the leasing obligations on SMSF trustees in the SIS Act is that there be a written Lease in place. Not only does there need to be a Lease in place, but it must be at ‘arms length‘ and on commercial terms.  This effectively means that it must have all of the usual or typical terms that would be expected to be in place if the property was being rented to a third party, for example with market rent being required to be paid in full and on time, with no discounts.

Practically, there are other benefits of having a proper Lease in place and one of them is that on the sale of the business, the Lease can be assigned to the purchaser so that the SMSF continues to get the benefit of the Lease and its protections after you cease to run the business. It also can assist your SMSF to maintain the value of the premises as any purchaser of the land is bound by it, so having a good yield is important.

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information, please contact McKillop Legal on (02) 9521 2455 or email help@mckilloplegal.com.au 

This information is general only and is not a substitute for proper legal advice. Please contact McKillop Legal to discuss your needs.

Stay up to date - LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

in Business / Commercial Law / Dispute Resolution / Estate Planning / General / Property / Risk management / Superannuation  by 01 Oct 2023 0 comments

Why your SMSF should have a corporate trustee

The Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) (SIS Act) has strict rules as to who must act as a trustee of a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF), but basically this means:

  • if you are individual trustees of a SMSF, all members must be trustees of the SMSF
  • If you have a corporate trustee of a SMSF, then all members must be directors of it.

The SIS Act also provides that those trusteeship rules will continue to be satisfied if a member’s attorney (under an enduring power of attorney) is appointed as trustee/director in place of the member. This can also assist if you will be overseas and unable to tend to the management of the SMSF for a prolonged period.

Where there is no enduring power of attorney, the member may need to be rolled out of the SMSF or an administrator may need to be appointed by the Court. One consequence of breaking these trusteeship rules can be the ATO removing the SMSF’s complying status and triggering tax at the top marginal tax rate.

There are several important reasons as to why your SMSF should have a corporate trustee. So how can having a company as trustee be of benefit?

Individual trustee dies or becomes incapacitated

When a member who is a SMSF trustee becomes incapacitated or dies, the trustee/s will need to change.

On the death or incapacity of a member, typically the deceased/incapacitated trustee will be removed and replaced with their ‘legal personal representative’ (LPR). An example of an LPR is an attorney appointed an enduring power of attorney or executor under a Will.

Another complication is that when a member/individual trustee dies and their death benefit commences to be paid from the SMSF, the trustee/s will need to change again (as the LPR cannot continue to act in place of the deceased member).

Every change of trustee will need to be reflected on all assets of the SMSF (including updating the title to any real property), causing delay and expense to the SMSF and family, at a time when the family would rather be focused on assisting the debilitated member of grieving their death.

Death or incapacity of a director of a corporate trustee

Where there is only one member remaining in the SMSF (due to death or rollout of a member), the remaining member will not have to find a second person to act as co-director of the trustee (single member SMSFs are required to have 2 trustees if the trustees are individuals). Title to the SMSF assets does not need to be changed, although ASIC’s register will.

Reduced ASIC fees

The expense of registering and maintaining a company is the most common deterrent to SMSFs using a corporate trustee however, unlike being a trustee of a family, discretionary or unit trust, where a company only acts as trustee of a SMSF, it is a ‘special purpose company’ (meaning it will receive the benefit of reduced ASIC annual return fees.

Other benefits

Having a company act as trustee can also offer some litigation exposure protection and may assist with borrowing under a Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement as some lenders require it

Overall, having a corporate trustee can be a more efficient, cost-effective and administratively simpler option for your SMSF and can be an integral part of your overall estate plan.

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information on estate planning, corporate, superannuation or succession issues, please contact McKillop Legal on (02) 9521 2455 or email help@mckilloplegal.com.au 

This information is general only and is not a substitute for proper legal advice. Please contact McKillop Legal to discuss your needs.

Stay up to date - LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

in Business / Commercial Law / Estate Planning / General / Litigation / Probate / Risk management / Superannuation  by 01 Sep 2021 0 comments

SMSF owns property. Member dies. Oh oh!

Do you, like many Australians, have a self managed superannuation fund (SMSF)?

If you want to own direct investments within your superannuation or have greater control of your superannuation portfolio, a SMSF can be a suitable alternative to retail superannuation funds.

SOME ADVANTAGES OF SMSFs

SMSFs have:

  • direct investment choice
  • access to wholesale managed funds
  • the benefit of being able to combine the superannuation balances of up to 6* people
  • the advantage of 15% taxation on investment earnings (as opposed to marginal or company tax rates) and potentially reduced capital gains tax
  • the ability to assist with estate planning and possibly for non-lapsing binding death benefit nominations

DIRECT PROPERTY

Often seen as a key advantage is the ability of an SMSF to invest in direct property, such as owning office or factory space from which a business operates from (assuming your SMSF’s Investment Strategy allows for direct property).

Where member balances are insufficient to buy a property outright, SMSFs can also borrow but only using a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) using a bare trustee that holds the property on behalf of the SMSF for the duration of the loan and once the debt is paid, the legal ownership of the property passes to the SMSF.

Property values hopefully go up over the next 20 or so years and the members benefit from and can live happily off the benefits during retirement …

… well that’s the plan anyway. So, what happens if a member dies or gets really sick a few years into the plan? (hint – it can ruin everything, for the other members).

CONSEQUENCES OF DEATH OR TPD

On the death of a member, that member’s superannuation balance is to be paid out (to the member’s estate of their nominated beneficiary/ies) as soon as is practicable.

On the total and permanent disablement (TPD) of a member, the member may be able to exit from the SMSF and call for their member balance to be paid out.

… but if the SMSF’s cash is all tied up in the property and the property is still subject to the LRBA, where does the money come from to pay out the member balance?

The property may have to be sold to fund this! That is, unless there is a SMSF Member Death & TPD Exit Deed in place.

SMSF MEMBER DEATH & TPD EXIT DEED

A SMSF Member Death & TPD Exit Deed can help in reducing the financial effects arising from the unexpected death or TPD of a member by for example:

  • requiring the SMSF members to effect a life insurance policy over the lives of the other members and where there is a death and a payout under the policy, the policy owners contribute funds to the SMSF with the intention of paying out the deceased member’s superannuation balance (and using any remainder to reduce or pay out any debt on the property under the LRBA); and
  • requiring the SMSF members to either put in place appropriate TPD cover or to agree that on the occurrence of a TPD event of a member, that member may remain a passive investor in the SMSF but cannot immediately call for payment of their member balance, even if they would otherwise be entitled to under the superannuation legislation, but rather, if they want the payment, their member balance is to be paid out over several years (ie, from the SMSF’s cashflow).

Unless there are appropriate insurances in place or an agreement for members to only get paid out benefits over time in the event of a TPD event, then the likely outcome of the death or TPD of one member is the sale of the SMSF’s property.

This can be a particularly bad problem if the SMSF has only recently acquired the property and had therefore incurred all of the legal, financial planning and accounting costs as well as stamp duty, but had no time for the asset to generate income or appreciate in value. The death or TPD of the one member therefore affects up to 3 other members who may not even be related to the affected member!

FURTHER INFORMATION

Craig Pryor is principal solicitor at McKillop Legal. For further information in relation to estate planning, business succession, superannuation or SMSFs, contact Craig Pryor on (02) 9521 2455 or email craig@mckilloplegal.com.au.

This information is general only and is not a substitute for proper legal advice. Please contact McKillop Legal to discuss your needs.

Stay up to date - LinkedIn | Facebook | Twitter

*amendment 01 July 2021 – only 4 members were allowed prior to 1 July 2021.

SMSF owns property. Member dies. Oh oh!

in Business / Commercial Law / Dispute Resolution / Estate Planning / Probate / Risk management / Superannuation / Tax Planning / Trusts  by 07 May 2018 0 comments

Trust & Superannuation Deed Amendments

Do you or any of your clients have a family/discretionary trust, unit trust or self-managed superannuation fund and want to change the deed?

Often the change is to remove and replace a trustee with a new one. In other situations, it may be changing a class of potential beneficiaries, dealing with the power of appointment, bringing forward the termination date or changing the trustee’s rights and/or obligations.

Care needs to be taken not to vest the trust or to cause a resettlement, which can give rise to unintended consequences, including:

  • CGT and
  • stamp duty.

There is no real “one size fits all” solution. Deeds can vary greatly as to the process and requirements.

McKillop Legal can assist in reviewing the relevant Deed/Rules and drafting an appropriate document to give effect to the required change.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Craig Pryor is principal solicitor at McKillop Legal. For further information in relation to trusts, estate planning, business succession or any other commercial law matter, contact Craig Pryor on (02) 9521 2455 or email craig@mckilloplegal.com.au.

in Business / Dispute Resolution / Estate Planning / General / Tax Planning  by 01 Feb 2017 0 comments