An SMSF is your personal superannuation fund, regulated by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) that you manage yourself.

Trustees are responsible for ensuring that the superannuation fund is properly managed and that it complies with the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) (SISA) and the other legal obligations. An SMSF is controlled by the Trustees as they make all investment decisions for the SMSF. Trustees hold funds for the benefit of the members or their dependents.

A Superannuation fund is an SMSF if it has four or less members, among other conditions as outlined in s17A of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 (Cth) (SISA). Members own the SMSF. Members’ interest in the SMSF is proportionate to the balance they maintain in the fund. SMSFs can have up to four members. All members must be trustees (or directors, if there is a corporate trustee) and are responsible for decisions made about the fund and compliance with relevant laws.

An SMSF is governed by rules know as the trust deed. The SMSF is established when the trust deed creating it is executed and stamped where necessary by the relevant state of territory revenue authority.

In certain circumstances, a power of attorney will be able to act as an individual trustee or a director of a Corporate trustee however, it has to meet the requirements of s17A(3)(b)(ii) of SISA. If you intend to do it, we suggest you take legal advice on the matter.

The advantages of an SMSF include:

• as trustees of the fund, it gives members greater control over the investment decisions;
• as trustees of the fund, members have greater input in decisions regarding the withdrawal of
• benefits, including whether a lump sum or pension can be paid;
• an SMSF can acquire business real property from a related party of the fund (link);
• there are estate planning advantages associated with an SMSF, including the ability to make
• indefinite binding nominations; and
• there is more flexibility in dealing with taxation liabilities between members.

Broadly there are three steps involved in establishing an SMSF:

Step 1: Appointment of trustees
Step 2: Prepare a trust deed
Step 3: Election to be regulated and obtain a tax file number and ABN for SMSF

You can start the process here

SMSFs are regulated by the ATO. It is important to notify the ATO of an election to be a regulated superannuation fund within 60 days after setting up your fund. Discount SMSF Admin provides the service as part of your SMSF set up free of charge.

In SMSF, trustees are in full control of all the investment decisions of the SMSF. However, trustees must not take money out of their SMSF earlier than legally permitted as it is meant for retirement. Using an SMSF to gain improper early access to superannuation is illegal and significant penalties may apply to both the fund and the recipient of the early release if a benefit is unlawfully released.

SMSF sector is growing. As per latest statistics available on the ATO website, there are over half a million SMSFs, representing more than a million members. It estimates the value of assets held within SMSFs is more than $700 billion.

You could find more details about SMSFs on ATO website – www.ato.gov.au/super

It is very easy to establish a new SMSF on our website. Please go to the link www.discountsmsfadmin.com.au/newsmsf to start the process.

There is a quick and easy way to transition your existing superfund to our platform. Please go to the link www.discountsmsfadmin.com.au/existingsmsf to start the process.

Superannuation law prescribes that a trustee must hold assets for its members to be a SMSF. A trust is an arrangement where a person or company (the trustee) holds assets (trust property) in trust for the benefit of others (the beneficiaries). A super fund is a special type of trust, set up and maintained for the sole purpose of providing retirement benefits to its members (the beneficiaries).

To create a trust, you need:

• trustees
• assets (an initial nominal consideration to give legal effect to the trust can be used – for example, $10 attached to the trust deed)
• identifiable beneficiaries - members of the fund
• the intention to create a trust - a super fund.

A trust deed is a legal document that sets out the rules for establishing and operating your fund. It includes such things as the fund’s objectives, who can be a member and whether benefits can be paid as a lump sum or income stream. The trust deed and super laws together form the fund’s governing rules.

The trust deed must be:

• prepared by a law firm (Ours is prepared the law firm Batallion Legal – it's a legal document)
• signed and dated by all trustees
• properly executed according to state or territory laws
• regularly reviewed, and updated as and when necessary – We offer free update of your trust deed in all our packages. Click here to know more

Once you fill in our application for a new SMSF, our system prepares all the documentation required to correctly set up your new SMSF. You will receive an email from us providing your account details as well as all the documents for the SMSF. Below is the list of documents you receive in our package:

• SMSF trust deed
• Certificate of Incorporation (in case of corporate trustee)
• Trustee Company Constitution (in case of corporate trustee)
• Minutes and resolutions
• Product Disclosure Statement
• Trustee Declarations
• Investment Strategy Template
• Tax File Number and Australian Business Number for the SMSF
• Application to open a bank account

We provide a generic investment strategy template as part of the documentation. Please go through it and if you find it suitable to your investment objectives, you can adopt it as it is or else you can make amendments to it to align it to your needs and objectives. Please click here to know more about investment strategy and why it so important for you to have one and to review and update it regularly.

You can order a corporate trustee of your SMSF when you are ordering a new SMSF. The benefits are

• One form to be filled instead of creating corporate trustee first and then setting up SMSF - saving you time and avoiding typing errors;
• you will receive a full set of documents for:
• Corporate Trustee; and
• SMSF
• We will register your special purpose corporate trustee with ASIC first and use ACN information to setup your SMSF

Once you fill up our online form and questionnaire, our system will instantly generate the documents for you to review and sign off. If you have any questions or requires, you can contact us and we will be happy to provide further clarifications. After you sign and return the documents to us, it takes about one week for us to set up your SMSF. Please click here to know more about our turnaround time.

Yes. It is required for you to provide 100 points identification documents. Please click here to know more about the list of acceptable documents and procedure on by whom and how these documents can be certified. These are required for opening bank account for the SMSF.

We will send a complete set of documents including Rollover documentation which will be completed for you. Please sign the Rollover documentation and provide supporting documentation evidencing the existence of your SMSF. Once Rollover documentation is signed and collated the required supporting documentation, please forward it to your existing Superfund for further processing. The Rollover Process times varies for each provider and make take up to a month to complete. Once the Rollover proceeds are deposited into your SMSF Transaction Bank Account you are ready to invest the monies.

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Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source.

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Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source.

If you are going to use a passage of Lorem Ipsum, you need to be sure there isn't anything embarrassing hidden in the middle of text. All the Lorem Ipsum generators on the Internet tend to repeat predefined chunks as necessary, making this the first true generator on the Internet.

Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source.

If you are going to use a passage of Lorem Ipsum, you need to be sure there isn't anything embarrassing hidden in the middle of text. All the Lorem Ipsum generators on the Internet tend to repeat predefined chunks as necessary, making this the first true generator on the Internet.

Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source.

If you are going to use a passage of Lorem Ipsum, you need to be sure there isn't anything embarrassing hidden in the middle of text. All the Lorem Ipsum generators on the Internet tend to repeat predefined chunks as necessary, making this the first true generator on the Internet.

Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source.

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Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source.

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