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18th Apr, 2018
In welcome news for superannuation members, the government has announced plans to simplify the payment of transition to retirement income streams (TRISs) so that they will always be permitted to automatically revert to a dependent upon the death of the original pensioner. This is designed to address a trap in the current legislation that is causing some administrative difficulties for funds when a TRIS recipient passes away.
08th Aug, 2017
The Treasury Laws Amendment (2017 Measures No 2) Act 2017 makes a range of technical amendments to the super reform legislation.
The amendments deem a transition-to-retirement income stream (TRIS) to be in retirement phase where the recipient of the income stream has satisfied a condition of release with a nil cashing restriction (eg retirement or attaining age 65). This means that a TRIS will stop being a pension (subject to 15% tax on fund earnings from 1 July 2017) and become a retirement phase superannuation income stream that qualifies for the earnings tax exemption once the recipient notifies the fund that a nil condition of release under the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Regulations 1994 (SIS Regs) has been satisfied.
The period in which an asset supporting a TRIS can cease to be a segregated current pension asset of a fund and still qualify for CGT relief will be extended to include the start of 1 July 2017.
The Act provides that an additional pension transfer balance credit will arise for certain repayments of a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) by a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) that shifts value between an accumulation phase interest to a retirement phase superannuation income stream interest in the fund: new s 294-55 of ITAA 1997.
The Act also makes the following changes to the $1.6 million pension transfer balance cap provisions.