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Button Text From 7 December 2024, new regulations made two important changes. These include: the introduction of a temporary (5 year) amnesty giving SMSF members in receipt of certain old style pensions (market linked / term allocated, complying lifetime and complying life expectancy pensions) the ability to commute these pensions at will rather than only under very limited conditions; and an amendment in the way in which allocations of reserves to fund members are treated for the purposes of the contribution caps. This is a permanent change. Some people are impacted by both changes. For example, they have a legacy pension which, if fully commuted (thanks to the amnesty), would release reserves and the allocation of those reserves will be subject to new rules. Others are only impacted by the first – they may wind up a legacy pension under the amnesty but won’t create any reserves by doing so (for example, their legacy pension is a market linked pension). And finally others are impacted only by the reserve changes – their SMSF has reserves which arose for all sorts of reasons in the past and are now being allocated to members. The consequences of making the allocations will be different in the future. While these changes do have a very big impact on a lot of people, they are completely irrelevant for most SMSF members. Helping with everything SMSF – even on niche issues like this one – is Heffron’s specialty. Our leading technicians have 20-30 years' experience with the ever changing super and tax laws, and understand everything there is to know about legacy pensions and reserves. We can help you or your clients in many ways Advice Strategic plan & statement of advice For more complex cases, or even just cases where you’d like a definitive recommendation from the experts, we can provide a full statement of advice that outlines a plan specific to you or your client. $8,800 to $11,000 each (incl GST) Get in touch Legacy pension statement of advice Download the request form Documentation Cover all the bases Have us prepare compliance documentation to record the commutation of legacy pensions, starting new pensions, allocation of reserves and more. We can also include the figures that need to be reported to the ATO. Discounts for Heffron administration clients. Commute a market linked pension Download the request form Commute a complying lifetime pension Download the request form Consultation Individual discussion with our experts Tap into our expertise by the hour. We are available for a phone consultation with you, your client (if applicable) or other family members impacted by the change. $605 per hour (incl GST) Get in touch Private online training Would you like a webinar delivered specifically for your team? Our training sessions include the new rules together with the ideas and insights we’ve developed based on dealing with hundreds of legacy pensions and clients with reserves. We can even work through real examples from your client base. Get in touch Options paper We can provide a paper that sets out the options for a specific case, together with the pros and cons of each, consequences and relevant calculations. This can be an invaluable document for those comfortable making the call themselves once they’re confident they have all the facts. In some cases, an options paper just won’t be the right option and we’ll recommend you get a formal Statement of Advice instead. $4,400 each (incl GST) Get in touch Legacy pension – Options paper Download the request form We are always here to help Stay informed 25 Feb 2026 Why SMSF defined benefit pensions may need action before June 30 The Division 296 tax legislation (if passed) will introduce some new problems – annual valuations (and therefore increased cost), a unique earnings calculation and (subject to yet-to-be-released regulations) a risk of artificially high earnings in the year of commutation (ie cessation). Read more in our news blog post 13 May 2025 Division 296 tax, legacy pensions and reserves – a real dilemma For someone impacted by the extra tax on those with more than $3m in super (known as Division 296 tax), it’s not necessarily smart to withdraw large amounts from super before 30 June 2025. But this deadline might be important for some pensioners (or ex-pensioners) in SMSFs. Read more in our news blog post 1 May 2025 Winding up market linked pensions – tax component tips Not surprisingly, we’ve seen a large increase in the number of members with market linked pensions looking to wind them up. As usual, there are some handy hints to think about when doing this. Read more in our news blog post 31 March 2025 Legacy pensions – another piece of the puzzle It’s been nearly 4 months since super laws were changed to allow the commutation of legacy pensions. But there was unfinished business: an extra legislative instrument for social security recipients. It’s here at last. Sort of. Read more in our news blog post 19 March 2025 Dealing with reserves that can't be allocated cap free The December 2024 changes opened the door for many SMSFs to allocate all of their reserves without anything being checked against any contributions cap. But what about the cases where a cap free path isn’t available? Read more in our news blog post 3 March 2025 Allocating reserves in the new world The 7 December 2024 changes to the treatment of reserve allocations certainly provide some excellent new opportunities to get rid of many SMSF reserves. But those who’ve already made allocations in (say) July 2024 should watch out for some traps. In the past, the most common approach for allocating reserves in an SMSF was to use the so called “5% rule”. Read more in our news blog post 3 February 2025 Tips for winding up market linked pensions I’m a huge fan of flexibility and simplicity and I expect many accountants, advisers and SMSF members are the same. That alone will prompt many to wind up market linked pensions this year. There are, however, some traps to be aware of along the way. In this article I’ve focused on large market linked pensions.. Read more in our news blog post 11 December 2024 Legacy pension amnesty and reserve changes – here at last I did wonder if I’d ever write those words, more than a few times in the last few years, but it seems we can. So what happens next? The regulations registered in the last few days are very similar to the ones originally released so our comments about some people being missed remain. Read more in our news blog post 18 September 2024 Movement on legacy pensions Finally. About. Bloody. Time. Draft regulations released yesterday provide – finally – the framework for unwinding legacy pensions cleanly and simply for members who choose to do so. It seems amazing that a mere 6 pages (plus one line) of legislation took this long to come about but...at least we have something to consult about now. Read more in our news blog post Contact Us Speak to an SMSF Consultant 1300 433 376 Make an enquiry Boost your knowledge Newsletter signup Knowledge Centre News & Insights Contact Careers © 2026 Heffron Consulting Pty. Ltd. trading as Heffron. | ABN 88 084 734 261 | AFSL 241739 | All rights reserved. CPD Policy Privacy Policy Privacy Collection Statement The information shown on this site is general information only, it does not constitute any recommendation or advice; it has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs and you should consider its appropriateness with regard to these factors before acting on it. Any taxation position described is a general statement and should only be used as a guide. It does not constitute tax advice and is based on the tax and superannuation laws which applied at the time the information was prepared and our interpretation. 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