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Qld case challenges status of SMSFs
Specialist financial services legal firm, Townsends Lawyers, has pointed to a legal case in Queensland which has brought into question the standing of self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs).
The firm has pointed to the fact that Queensland Revenue has included an SMSF and its holding trusts within a payroll tax group on the basis that they are each a business and are each controlled by individuals who control other businesses.
According to Townsends, Queensland Revenue is seeking to recover unpaid payroll tax in circumstances where the only entities within the group which have assets are the SMSF and its holding trusts.
The law firms argues that if the Queensland Revenue office is successful, then the asset protection aspect of SMSFs is likely to be materially reduced.
However, it noted that the issue of whether the Commonwealth's Superannuation Industry Supervision Act (SIS Act) over-rode state legislation had not yet been raised.
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