Chapter 18

Investing and Super Tax

In This Chapter

arrow Understanding how your super fund pays tax on fund income

arrow Enjoying exemption from income tax on your super fund earnings in retirement

arrow Reducing or eliminating super tax with franked dividends

arrow Understanding how your fund’s capital gains are taxed in your SMSF

M any people huff and puff about the number of taxes imposed on superannuation and how confusing it all is. However, in terms of super tax incentives, most Australians are on a fairly good wicket.

The superannuation tax system is more complicated than it needs to be, but complicated taxes don’t eliminate the fact that super is one of the most tax-effective retirement vehicles available. I’m not, however, going to gloss over the reality. Tax is a necessary evil in a civilised society and, historically, superannuation has been hit with the evil tax stick more times than many other investment vehicles.

In this chapter, you get a working understanding of how your super fund’s investments are taxed while you’re accumulating super savings for retirement, and what tax consequences ...

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