I hope this guidance  has been helpful and please take the time to comment. Feedback always appreciated.

Liam Shorte B.Bus SSA™ AFP

Financial Planner & SMSF Specialist Advisor™

Tel: 02　98941844, Mobile: 0413 936 299

PO Box 6002 BHBC, Baulkham Hills NSW 2153

5/15 Terminus St. Castle Hill NSW 2154

Corporate Authorised Representative of Viridian Select Pty Ltd ABN 41 621 447 345, AFSL 51572

This information has been prepared without taking account of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Because of this you should, before acting on this information, consider its appropriateness, having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. This website provides an overview or summary only and it should not be considered a comprehensive statement on any matter or relied upon as such.

As a result of the introduction of mean testing of the Private Health Insurance Premium Rebate wewant to alert you to a one-off savings possibility in relation to the private health insurance rebate.

If you pre-pay your 2012/13 private health insurance premium before 30 June 2012, you may still be able to access the Government rebate.

As you may be aware, the Government currently provides a non-means tested rebate for private health insurance premiums. The rebate can be claimed directly from the insurer, or as a tax offset when you lodge your income tax return. the majority of clients claim it upfront and if you don’t then you may need to consider doing so this year.

The rebate is currently 30% for those under 65 and rising  from 35% to 40% of the premium depending on the age of the policy holder.

The Government has now passed the required legislation that will apply an income test to the availability of the rebate to any premiums paid on or after 1 July 2012. The more income you earn, the lower the rebate as follows:

Private Health Insurance Incentive Tiers (2011-2012) with effect 1 July 2012

Note: The thresholds increase annually, based on growth in Average Weekly Ordinary Time Earnings (AWOTE). Single parents and couples (including de facto couples) are subject to the family tiers. For families with children, the thresholds are increased by $1,500 for each child after the first.

Singles earning $84,000 or less and families earning $168,000 or less will continue to receive the existing 30, 35 and 40 per cent rebate, depending on their age.

Once your ‘adjusted’ income is greater than $130,000 (or $260,000 as a family), no rebate will be available.

For a family with gross premiums of say $2,500, this will result in an increase to the out of pocket premium costs of $750.00

The current rebate applies to a premium ‘paid’ during the income year. Accordingly, it follows that if you prepay your 2012-13 premium on or before 30 June 2012, the current rules should apply and the rebate should be available.

If you are interested in this one-off savings opportunity, we suggest you contact your private health insurer to discuss the possibility of pre-paying next year’s premium and ensure that their is no penalty for prepayment and that their system can cope with the prepayment.

Increase to Medicare Surcharge levy for High Income Earners

For those without Private Health Cover be aware that  the Medicare levy surcharge for people without private health insurance will lift to 1.5 per cent of taxable income for those top earners without private health insurance cover. (see table above)

I hope this guidance  has been helpful and please take the time to comment. Feedback always appreciated.

Liam Shorte B.Bus SSA™ AFP

Financial Planner & SMSF Specialist Advisor™

Tel: 02　98941844, Mobile: 0413 936 299

PO Box 6002 BHBC, Baulkham Hills NSW 2153

5/15 Terminus St. Castle Hill NSW 2154

Corporate Authorised Representative of Viridian Select Pty Ltd ABN 41 621 447 345, AFSL 51572

This information has been prepared without taking account of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Because of this you should, before acting on this information, consider its appropriateness, having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. This website provides an overview or summary only and it should not be considered a comprehensive statement on any matter or relied upon as such.

 One of the least understood and core benefits of SMSFs are the value of franking credits attached to many blue chip share dividends.  You can tilt your portfolio to enhance the taxation benefits to your fund.

Targeting of imputation credits received predominantly from direct share investment in Australian, and to a lesser extent through managed funds is not that difficult. Franking credits (properly known as Imputation credits) can also be used to offset the tax payable on the taxable income of the fund if still in accumulation stage or refunds can be received from the ATO if in pension phase (don’t you just love receiving money from the ATO!)

The key point to understand around franking credits is the fact that the income tax rate for super funds is only 15% in Accumulation phase and 0% in Pension phase, while imputation credits from fully franked dividends can be as high as 30% of the gross dividend of an Australian share. This means that the franking credit covers the tax payable on the dividend received, and leaves a significant excess to be used to reduce the other tax payable by the fund or to be claimed as a refund

So how does it work in reality ?

So company Widget Ltd makes $1.00 profit and therefore is required to pay company tax at the rate of 30% on this $1 profit. Consequently the taxed $0.30 (30% of $1) will be paid in cash to the tax office and the company then records this $0.30 into their franking account. The franking account is only a record of what was paid and does not contain actual money. The company’s ability to frank its dividend will depend on the balance of this franking account. If the franking credit contains a surplus, the company may declare a fully franked (100% franked) dividend. If the franking account isn’t large enough, perhaps because it pays tax overseas, then the company may declare a partially franked dividend. That is, the dividend received by the SMSF is “grossed up” by the amount of the imputation credit to achieve a grossed up dividend. It is on this amount that tax is then assessed at 15% or 05 depending on the phase of your SMSF. The fund is then entitled to a tax offset for the franking credit.

Example: a worked example below of a SMSF that only holds Telstra shares and ANZ shares:

In this example, not only will the fund pay no tax on the dividend income of these two shareholdings, but it will have:

• Accumulation Phase $450 of excess franking credits
• Pension Phase $900 of excess franking credits ;

Which the SMSF Trustees can use to offset against other tax liabilities of the fund (such as other income, capital gains, and taxable contributions) or if  none exists, then the SMSF fund can receive a refund of this amount. (Love it!)

The 45 day rule

As the examples have shown fully franked dividends and franking credits make investing in Australian shares a very tax effective strategy. However, the ATO realises this and to prevent investors from abusing the system (called dividend stripping) they introduced the 45 day rule. The 45 day rule states that shareholder must hold shares for 45 days (not counting days of purchase or sale) for any franking credits over $5,000.

Beware of blind dividend chasing , you can hit a wall!

A word of warning before you decide to put your life savings into chasing shares with the highest dividends. While some high yielding dividend stocks may look enticing it would be useless if those shares drop in value (falling capital value). Always research the company and look for strong fundamentals, for example what does the company’s dividend history look like? Are the dividends growing year on year in line with the earnings per share? Is there long term potential for this company? Will earnings rise in the near term and are they sustainable.

Want a Superannuation Review or are you just looking for an adviser that will keep you up to date and provide guidance and tips like in this blog? Then why now contact me at our Castle Hill or Windsor office in Northwest Sydney to arrange a one on one consultation. Just click the Schedule Now button up on the left to find the appointment options. Do it! make 2016 the year to get organised or it will be 2026 before you know it.

Please consider passing on this article to family or friends. Pay it forward!

Liam Shorte B.Bus SSA™ AFP

Financial Planner & SMSF Specialist Advisor™

Tel: 02　98941844, Mobile: 0413 936 299

PO Box 6002 BHBC, Baulkham Hills NSW 2153

5/15 Terminus St. Castle Hill NSW 2154

Corporate Authorised Representative of Viridian Select Pty Ltd ABN 41 621 447 345, AFSL 51572

This information has been prepared without taking account of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Because of this you should, before acting on this information, consider its appropriateness, having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs. This website provides an overview or summary only and it should not be considered a comprehensive statement on any matter or relied upon as such.