jorgon
(Jeremy Gordon)
- Joined
- 7 September 2010
- Posts
- 26
- Reactions
- 0
Hi all
I have two questions about how an SMSF might work in practice, but I need to explain first why I am asking the questions.
I'm a Pom lawyer coming to Australia to live and I will need to transfer my pension fund to a SMSF. Being a control freak, I'm just looking at the practicalities of setting up the SMSF myself, registering it as a QROPS (Qualifying Registered Overseas Pension Scheme) to satisfy the UK tax authorities, and also organising the SMSF myself on an annual basis right up to submitting the accounts and proposed tax return to the auditors ready for the submission to the ATO. I am aware from other threads and from my research of the amount of work and the pitfalls involved, and the need for 100% accuracy so there is no need to warn me about that. But I do prefer to blame myself if something inadvertently goes wrong, rather than taking the can for someone else's mistake. And so far I have found (as is often the case) that there is a considerable amount of mystery and vagueness generated by the "experts" when in fact when you go to the core documentation, things can be fairly readily understood. Apart from my two questions, that is!
In the UK half of my pension fund is in a SIPP (Self Invested Pension Fund) which I manage. A SIPP seems very like an SMSF except that in a SIPP the trustees are independent and themselves report to the tax authority. The SIPP member cannot have any input into this. I believe the reporting requirements must be much less onerous than in Australia because SIPP fees in the UK are very low, in fact I know one SIPP provider which does not charge any fees at all - relying only on commission from the linked online brokers!
Where I am having difficulty is in looking ahead to when I have my SMSF organised and funded and the mechanisms involved in using the online brokers.
I've been looking at the online brokers available to Australian residents and as mentioned by forum contributors the fees for international trades seem to be pretty outrageous. So if possible I would wish to set up a dealing account for my SMSF with my existing online broker in the UK. This broker would have a base currency in pounds sterling.
Question 1
So my first question is, does anyone with a SMSF in Australia use:-
(a) an overseas online broker; or
(b) an online broker whose base currency is not Australian dollars; and
(c) if so does this cause any problems for the SMSF?
Question 2
Suppose my SMSF is called "D. Duck Super Fund". Has anyone had any difficulty registering a dealing account with an online broker in such a non-natural name as "D. Duck Super Fund" and has this caused difficulties with providing ID etc? If so it might be better for me to use a corporate trustee when setting up the SMSF.
Judging from the posts on this forum there is probably expertise to answer these questions and if so I would very much appreciate it.
I have two questions about how an SMSF might work in practice, but I need to explain first why I am asking the questions.
I'm a Pom lawyer coming to Australia to live and I will need to transfer my pension fund to a SMSF. Being a control freak, I'm just looking at the practicalities of setting up the SMSF myself, registering it as a QROPS (Qualifying Registered Overseas Pension Scheme) to satisfy the UK tax authorities, and also organising the SMSF myself on an annual basis right up to submitting the accounts and proposed tax return to the auditors ready for the submission to the ATO. I am aware from other threads and from my research of the amount of work and the pitfalls involved, and the need for 100% accuracy so there is no need to warn me about that. But I do prefer to blame myself if something inadvertently goes wrong, rather than taking the can for someone else's mistake. And so far I have found (as is often the case) that there is a considerable amount of mystery and vagueness generated by the "experts" when in fact when you go to the core documentation, things can be fairly readily understood. Apart from my two questions, that is!
In the UK half of my pension fund is in a SIPP (Self Invested Pension Fund) which I manage. A SIPP seems very like an SMSF except that in a SIPP the trustees are independent and themselves report to the tax authority. The SIPP member cannot have any input into this. I believe the reporting requirements must be much less onerous than in Australia because SIPP fees in the UK are very low, in fact I know one SIPP provider which does not charge any fees at all - relying only on commission from the linked online brokers!
Where I am having difficulty is in looking ahead to when I have my SMSF organised and funded and the mechanisms involved in using the online brokers.
I've been looking at the online brokers available to Australian residents and as mentioned by forum contributors the fees for international trades seem to be pretty outrageous. So if possible I would wish to set up a dealing account for my SMSF with my existing online broker in the UK. This broker would have a base currency in pounds sterling.
Question 1
So my first question is, does anyone with a SMSF in Australia use:-
(a) an overseas online broker; or
(b) an online broker whose base currency is not Australian dollars; and
(c) if so does this cause any problems for the SMSF?
Question 2
Suppose my SMSF is called "D. Duck Super Fund". Has anyone had any difficulty registering a dealing account with an online broker in such a non-natural name as "D. Duck Super Fund" and has this caused difficulties with providing ID etc? If so it might be better for me to use a corporate trustee when setting up the SMSF.
Judging from the posts on this forum there is probably expertise to answer these questions and if so I would very much appreciate it.