2019 Federal Budget: what it means to your SMSF

There are four major positive changes in regards to superannuation and SMSFs and they can be summarised as below:

Work test changes

From 1 July 2020, SMSF members aged 65 and 66 can make both concessional and non-concessional contributions without meeting the Work Test.

The current Work Test requires remembers to work at least 40 hours in consecutive days in the financial year that they want to make contributions if they are more than 65 years old.

The Work Test change will make the age requirement same as the Age Pension from 1 July 2023.

Spouse contribution age limit

The age will be increased to 74 for the spouse who can receive spouse contributions.

The current age limit is  up to 70.

NCC bring-forward arrangements

The bring-forward rules for the non-concessional contribution (NCC) will be extended by another two years.

This changes will allow those aged 65 and 66 to use the bring-forward arrangement.

ECPI calculations

From 1 July 2020, The administrative requirements will be streamlined to reduce costs and simplify the reporting for SMSFs  for the calculation of exempt current pension income (ECPI).

SMSF members in both the accumulation and retirement phases during a financial year can choose their preferred method of calculating ECPI.

Actuarial certificate requirement will be removed when calculating ECPI using the proportionate method, where all members of the fund are in pension mode.