can you claim tax deduction on brokerage fees?, page-7

Hi Lindso, thanks!! You woke me up!

Dimaz's question was "Can you claim tax deduction on the brokerage fees if you are trading shares in your SMSF?"

Because I have just finished my returns for BOTH my personal share trading account & SMSF, I blended the two together, and then incorrectly attributed the same process to esuperfund (or any SMSF), which is INCORRECT! So my reply related to the manner of tax accountancy used for a share trader, NOT an investor (or SMSF), where as you mention there are different CGT rules.

So to Dimaz and any others, please note:

The answer to Dimaz's question is assentially NO! ... In a SMSF, bokerage fees are not a "tax deduction" as we normally use them. They are included in the "COST" of the asset, then deducted off the sale at the time of disposal ... in a sense they are "deducted" in the end, whenever that item is sold!

In your SMSF, all share purchases are deemed "investments", regardless whether you hold them long term, or regularly "trade" in that account. hence the CTG method is applied.

The good news with Esuperfund is that they register ALL members for GST, and so you will get a refund on your GST payed through the year, which for a regular trader can be quite a sum.

Sorry about the misinformation ... thanks to Lindso for bringing it up!