ATO SMSF Draft Ruling SMSFR 2011/D1

The ATO today released a new draft SMSF ruling (SMSFR 2011/D1) which seeks to clarify a number of contentious issues involving SMSF limited recourse borrowing arrangements including;

The ruling if and when passed, will allow money borrowed under the borrowing arrangement to not only acquire the acquirable asset but also in carrying out repairs and maintenance to the asset whether necessary at the time of its acquisition or at a later time.

Money borrowed under a borrowing arrangement may not however be applied to the improvement of the asset.

It also brings some clarity around the use of insurance proceeds to rebuild a property destroyed by a naturally disaster as long as its fundamental character is unchanged.

Also in a reversal of rules, the ruling also suggests it would now allow improvements on an asset acquired under a borrowing arrangement entered into on or after July 7, 2010 so long as it used it’s own cash reserves (not borrowed), and as long as the improvement does not fundamentally change the character of the asset.

The ATO also now accepts that a property existing on multiple titles can still count as a single acquirable asset, providing its physical characteristics identify it as a single asset and the titles cannot be managed or sold separately.