SMSF annual return ( pension phase )
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* Profit & Loss Statement
* Member Statements
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$880 ( inc GST)
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$440 ( inc GST)

SMSF annal return ( pension phase ) - information

16 Aug 2020 updated

Generally your SMSF can only pay a member's super benefits when the member reaches their ‘preservation age’ and meets one of the conditions of release, such as retirement. The payment may be an income stream (pension) or a lump sum, depending on the circumstances.

 

Find out about:

 

  ●  Preservation of super

  ●  Conditions of release

  ●  Death of a member

  ●   Lump sums and super income streams (pensions)

 

Payments of benefits to members that have not met a condition of release are not treated as super benefits – instead, they will be taxed as ordinary income at the member's marginal tax rate. If a benefit is unlawfully released, we may apply significant penalties to you, your SMSF and the recipient of the early release.

 

Note that the operating standards, investment restrictions and other rules and regulations that apply to SMSFs in the accumulation or growth phase, continue to apply when members begin receiving a pension from the SMSF.

  ●  Preservation of super

 

Most of the super held in your fund will be in the form of preserved benefits. These must be preserved in the fund until the time the law and your fund’s trust deed allows them to be paid.

 


Preserved benefits
All contributions made by or on behalf of a member, and all earnings since 30 June 1999, are preserved benefits.

Preserved benefits may be cashed voluntarily only if a condition of release is met and subject to any cashing restrictions imposed as part of the condition of release. Cashing restrictions tell you what form the benefits need to be taken in.

Restricted non-preserved benefits
These benefits generally stem from employment-related contributions (other than employer contributions) made before 1 July 1999.

Restricted non-preserved benefits can't be cashed until the member meets a condition of release specific to these benefits such as a nil cashing restriction or where the employment they relate to has been terminated.

Unrestricted non-preserved benefits
These benefits don't require a condition of release to be met, and may be paid on demand by the member. They include, for example, benefits for which a member has previously satisfied a condition of release and decided to keep the money in the super fund.

Certain employer termination payments (ETPs) received by the fund before 1 July 2004 may also be included in this category of benefits.

  ●   Conditions of release

 

To cash preserved benefits or restricted non-preserved benefits, a member must satisfy one of the conditions of release.

 

Unrestricted non-preserved benefits may be cashed at any time. 

 

Some conditions of release restrict the form of the benefit (for example, lump sum or pension) or the amount of benefit that can be paid. These are known as 'cashing restrictions'.

 

  ●   Death of a member

 

When a self-managed super fund (SMSF) member dies, the SMSF generally pays a death benefit to a dependant or other beneficiary of the deceased. This should be done as soon as possible after the member's death.

 

If the recipient is a dependant of the deceased, the death benefit can be paid as a lump sum or income stream. The income stream can be new or a continuation of an existing income stream.

 

If the recipient is not a dependant of the deceased, the death benefit must be paid as a lump sum.

  ●   Lump sum and income stream (pension)

 

A self-managed super fund (SMSF) can pay benefits in the form of a lump sum, an income stream (pension) or a combination of both, provided the payment is allowed under super law and the fund's trust deed.

You have to withhold tax from benefit payments to members who are:

 

under 60 years old

under 60 years old and your member receives a reversionary capped defined benefit income stream, where the deceased was 60 years or over when they died.

60 years old or over if the benefit is from a capped defined benefit income stream.

 

 more information from the ATO >>>