SMSF audience guide
SMSF for business owners: structure, property and succession
Business owners use SMSFs for three things more than any other group: holding business real property, succession planning across multiple generations of owners, and creating a clean separation between business assets and personal wealth.
Why Australian business owners use an SMSF
The business real property exemption is the headline feature for owners — your SMSF can acquire and lease back the premises you operate from, paying you a tax-deductible rent and capturing the long-term capital gain inside super where it is taxed at 15% (or 0% in pension phase).
For multi-owner businesses, the 6-member cap (lifted from 4 in 2021) means partners can run a shared SMSF. The deed needs to handle exit mechanics carefully — easySMSF includes a current SMSF Association-reviewed deed in every setup.
- Own your business premises inside the SMSF (business real property exemption)
- Up to 6 members — bring in family or business partners
- Limited recourse borrowing (LRBA) to acquire commercial property
- Pension phase asset segregation for retirement planning
- Corporate trustee for cleaner separation from operating businesses