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Superannuation death benefits: some discrete issues
Published on 01 Mar 22 by "TAXATION IN AUSTRALIA" JOURNAL ARTICLE
The authors’ two-part article about discrete tax issues affecting deceased estates was published in this journal just as the pandemic descended upon the world. Although many things have changed since then, people’s ability to ask tricky tax questions has not. This article considers some discrete issues relating to the taxation of lump sum superannuation death benefits. These include timing issues such as when the status of an individual as a dependant of a deceased member is determined, or when a determination
should be made about which estate beneficiary is expected to benefit from a death benefit. Other issues considered are how to determine whether a beneficiary is benefitting from a death benefit or some other amount, and whether a beneficiary can benefit from an amount that is used to meet estate expenses.
Author profiles
Ian Raspin CTA
Ian Raspin, CTA, is the Managing Director of BNR Partners and has specialised in the taxation of deceased estates since 2000. He commenced his career in public practice in Tasmania working predominantly with SME’s, prior to ‘migrating’ to Australia in 1998 and commencing his career with BNR Partners. BNR was named the 2019/20 global winner of ‘mid-sized accounting firm of the year’ in the prestigious Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners private client awards held in London. Ian is recognised both nationally and internationally on Australian estate taxation matters. He is both a published author on estate taxation and a frequent presenter at both legal and accounting conferences and events, including for various Law Societies, the Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners (STEP), CPA Australia, the Tax Institute and the College of Law. Ian also regularly provides in-house training sessions for legal firms and trustee companies, and consults with professional bodies, regulators and the private sector on estate taxation issues. He is actively involved in the professional arena and was a 2017 finalist in the Tax Institute of Australia’s SME Tax Advisor of the year Awards and the recipient of CPA Australia’s 2016 Henry Fox Award for services to Public Practice. Ian is a fellow of both CPA Australia, and of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, he is also a Certified Tax Advisor of the Taxation Institute of Australia, a registered Practitioner of the Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners and a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Ian is a current sitting member of CPA Australia Taxation Centre of Excellence, and the Chair of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Australia Limited. He also sits on the Planning Advisory Committee for the College of Law. - Current at 05 February 2026
Lyn Freshwater
Lyn Freshwater is a Senior Tax Advisor with BNR Partners and provides written advice on complex estate and trust matters. She commenced with BNR in 2019 after a lengthy ATO career where she gained considerable experience as an administrator particularly in the context of the capital gains tax and trust provisions. Some of her career highlights include instructing on the drafting of the scrip-for-scrip rollover provisions and streaming rules for capital gains and franked dividends, authoring various pieces of public advice such as PS LA 2003/12 (about the meaning of legal personal representative (LPR)), TR 2006/14 (about life and remainder interests), TR 2010/D1 (about income of a trust estate), PCG 2018/4 (about the liabilities of an LPR), developing ATO views in various litigation cases such as Electnet and Sandini and acting as Secretariat of the Trust Consultation Sub-group. Lyn is a member of the STEP Advocacy Committee. She has also written and taught a course about death and taxation for the College of Law. - Current at 12 July 2024
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