Accountants who have been dealing in superannuation matters in the past for their clients which will cease on 1 July 2016 if they do not hold a licence to do so. From 1 July 2016 an accountant must be licenced to provide superannuation advice or must be referred to a financial planner or another accountant who is licenced. This will have ramifications for clients of SMSF’s due to some work accountants have done in the past for next to nothing, but from 1 July 2016, where advice is provided, a Statement of Advice must be prepared and explained to clients. This additional red tape will result in higher compliance costs where advice is provided.
Some areas include:
- Recommending a smsf
- Recommending to consolidate super assets
- Recommending additional super contributions
- Recommending the commencement of pensions
- Recommending a binding death benefit nomination
We will be providing more advice in this area over the next 6 months. However if you would like to discuss this further please contact Simon Flowers, Cathy Walley or Matthew Grapsas.
