• approved SMSF auditors (and SMSF trustees – if they hold an ABN).
• businesses and their owners.
• not-for-profits.
• other organisations.

Logging in to Online services to business

• how to log in
• setting up your permissions

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• Account Header
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Account and Payments

• view your accounts
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• Income Tax Returns
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• and over a dozen other lodgement items

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Used by businesses to manage most employer obligations, including

• registrations
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Communication with the ATO

• secure mail
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Profile Menu

Used by businesses to manage their business details with the ATO, including

• business details
• business addresses
• email addresses
• authorised contacts
• Registered Agents details
• associates
• financial institution details
• card details
• add, update or cancel a tax type
• SMSF auditor details

Of course, if you don’t want to go it alone, or you are worried about getting it wrong, use the services of a registered tax agent. This is the best way to ensure that your lodgements are not only made on time, but are both correct and compliant.

The experienced team at Accountplan have been helping client of all sizes get it right for almost 40yrs. For peace of mind call us on 07 3883 8999.

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One of the many responsibilities SMSF trustees have every income year is valuing your fund’s assets at market value.

The market value of an asset is the amount that a willing buyer and seller would agree to in an arms-length transaction. These valuations will be used when preparing your fund’s accounts, statements and SMSF annual return (SAR).

Your asset valuations will be reviewed by your approved SMSF auditor as part of the annual audit prior to lodgment of your SAR. Your auditor will check that assets have been valued correctly, assess and document whether the basis for the valuations is appropriate given the nature of the asset. They are not responsible for valuing fund assets.

Make sure you get your valuations done before going to your auditor.

It’s your responsibility to provide objective and supportable evidence to your auditor for the valuation of the fund’s assets, including all relevant documents requested to prevent delays in auditing the fund. Failure to do so could result in a potential late lodgment of your annual return or a contravention if mistakes have been made.

Start researching now to find what type of evidence your need to support the valuation as this can take time. For some asset types the law requires valuations to be undertaken by a qualified independent valuer. Find out more by visiting SMSF valuation guidelines.

Source: ATO

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You need to have the time and skills to manage your Self managed super fund, and there are ongoing running costs.

As a trustee of an SMSF you’ll be responsible for operating your fund within the law. If you don’t, you may face severe penalties and your fund may suffer tax consequences.

You’ll also need to make investment decisions for the SMSF that are in the best financial interests of all members. You will need to formulate and give effect to an investment strategy that you review and update regularly, while understanding and complying with the restrictions on the investments an SMSF can make.

It costs money to set up and run an SMSF. You might find that the fees you pay for an SMSF are more than you would pay in another type of super fund. Every year that you have an SMSF, you’ll need to pay for an independent audit and the supervisory levy. Most SMSFs also pay for additional help, such as:

• preparing the SMSF annual return
• valuations of the SMSF’s assets
• actuarial certificates for SMSFs paying income streams (pensions)
• financial advice
• legal fees, for example if the trust deed needs to be amended
• assistance with fund administration
• insurance for members.

Source: ATO

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There are people promoting early access schemes which are illegal and could cost you more than your retirement savings. Be on the lookout for dodgy advice, don’t take up any offers without first checking if they are legal and learn how to spot the warning signs.

If you have been approached by anyone telling you that you can withdraw your super early (without meeting a condition of release) you need to: 

• stop any involvement with the scheme, organisation or the person who approached you 
• not sign any documents 
• not provide them with any of your personal details. 

You should also report any interaction you may have had with a promoter to us as soon as possible.

If you illegally access your super early, you can lose your retirement savings, pay extra tax, penalties and interest, and be disqualified from being an SMSF trustee. Disqualified trustees names are published online.

If you have been involved in a scheme, contact us immediately. We will take your voluntary disclosure and circumstances into account when determining any penalties.

Source: ATO

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It’s important to remember SMSF trustees cannot loan money or provide other forms of financial assistance to a member or relative. If they do, they can incur a penalty of up to $18,780. They may also be disqualified as a trustee which means their name is published online and they can no longer operate their fund or another self-managed super fund in the future.

An SMSF trustee also cannot loan money to a related party such as a business where the value of the loan exceeds 5% of the value of the fund’s total assets. This is a prohibited in-house asset investment which is a contravention.

If the SMSF’s in-house assets exceed 5% of the total value of its assets at the end of the financial year, the trustee must prepare a plan to reduce their in-house assets to less than 5%. The plan must be prepared and implemented by the end of the following financial year and failure to do so will result in a contravention.

It is important you understand the rules to avoid making prohibited loans from your SMSF.

If you have made a prohibited loan from your SMSF it must be rectified as soon as possible by ensuring the loan is repaid. You should contact your appointed SMSF professionals to help.

If you can’t rectify the breach, you should use our SMSF early engagement and voluntary disclosure service to engage with us early. If you do this before we start an audit and take compliance action, we take your disclosure into account in determining what other actions we need to take.

How we deal with non-compliance has information on the types of compliance action we might take where we see breaches of the super laws.

You can also visit restrictions on investments to see the different types of contraventions.

Source: ATO

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Before lodging your final SMSF return you need to dispose of assets and pay out (where a condition of release has been met) or rollover all member benefits (leaving an appropriate amount to pay final tax or expenses if required).

Once your final return has been processed all remaining member benefits must be paid out or rolled over. This includes any refund received from the final return. All benefits must be paid out or rolled over within 28 days of lodging your final return.

All rollovers for winding up an SMSF must be done via SuperStream.

Don’t cancel the fund’s ABN after you lodge final SMSF annual return. Once we have processed your final annual return we will confirm your fund has been wound up by sending you a letter stating we have:

• cancelled the fund’s ABN
• closed your SMSF records on our system.

The ATO have a winding up checklist that will guide you through all of the steps involved.

You should consider appointing professionals to assist you when winding up your SMSF. Even if you use a professional to help, it is still your responsibility to ensure you correctly wind up your SMSF.

Source: ATO

The post Winding Up Your SMSF appeared first on Mark Accountants.

Your SMSF’s audit must be finalised before you lodge, as you’ll need some information from the audit report to complete the SAR. You must ensure the correct auditor details are provided in the SAR, otherwise you may be penalised.

Your auditor will perform a financial and compliance audit of your SMSF’s operations before lodging. Remember, an audit is required even if no contributions or payments are made in the financial year.

Your approved SMSF auditor must be:

• registered with the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) – you’ll need to provide their SMSF auditor number (SAN) on your SAR
• independent – auditors shouldn’t audit a fund where they
  • hold any financial interest in, or where they have a close personal or business relationship with members or trustees
  • work for a firm who provides your fund with other services such as certain accounting services, tax, super or financial planning advice.

If a fund doesn’t meet the rules for operating an SMSF, the auditor may be required to report any contraventions to the ATO.

Approved SMSF auditors can be busy so it’s a good idea to start this process early. You can find a list of approved SMSF auditors on the ASIC website.

Source: ATO

The post Appointing an SMSF Auditor appeared first on Mark Accountants.

If you registered your SMSF prior to the 2022 income year and you have a tax professional, your SAR may be due on 15 May or 5 June 2023. You should contact your tax agent now to find out when your SAR is due and ensure your tax professional is an authorised representative for your fund.

After this has been confirmed with your tax professional, you will need to:

• appoint an auditor at least 45 days before your due date
• value the assets of the fund at their market value.

You must ensure the fund is audited before your SAR is lodged, and that the SAR contains the correct auditor details.

All members of your SMSF will receive an alert when the SAR has been lodged if it indicates that the fund’s bank account or electronic service address has been updated.

If your SAR hasn’t been lodged after 2 weeks from the due date, then the compliance status of your SMSF on Super Fund Lookup may be changed to ‘regulation details removed’. This means your SMSF will not be able to accept any further rollovers and employers may not be able to make superannuation guarantee contributions to your fund.

Make sure you are aware of your SMSF’s lodgement due date and get prepared now to meet the deadline.

Source: ATO

The post Lodging Your SAR Through Your Tax Professional? appeared first on Mark Accountants.

You should also be wary of people, known as ‘promoters’ who want to help you set up an SMSF for the purpose of illegally accessing your super.

As a trustee of a SMSF it is your responsibility to ensure that if you are accessing your super early, you are doing this within super laws.

To make this easier for you, we have recently released a factsheet Accessing your super early may be illegal (PDF, 157KB). The fact sheet highlights what you need to know about accessing your super early and what to do if you get approached by a promoter.

Don’t forget for more information for SMSFs

You can keep up to date with our recently published SMSF news and alerts or you can subscribe to SMSF news for a monthly wrap-up of news and updates.

Source: ATO

The post Illegal Early Access To Super appeared first on Mark Accountants.

Events you need to report

An SMSF must report events that affect a member’s transfer balance account.

Common events are:

• details of when a member starts a retirement phase income stream, including death benefit income streams – details you need to provide include
  • type of income stream
  • the value
  • start date.

Where the death benefit income stream is paid to a reversionary beneficiary, the start date will be the date the member died, and the value will be the value of the income stream on the date of death of the member:

• details (including value) of commutations of retirement phase income streams, including commutation of a pension that occurs before it is rolled over to another fund.

Other events include:

• details of limited recourse borrowing arrangement (LRBA) payments (including the value and date of each relevant payment) if the LRBA was entered into on or after 1 July 2017 (or a pre-existing LRBA was re-financed on or after 1 July 2017) and the payment results in an increase in the value of the member’s interest that supports their retirement phase income stream
• compliance with a commutation authority issued by us
• details (including value) of personal injury (structured settlement) contributions.

If no event occurs, you have nothing to report.

Some exclusions from reporting

Events an SMSF does not need to report on a transfer balance account report (TBAR) include:

• pension payments
• investment earnings and losses
• when an income stream ceases because the interest has been exhausted
• the death of a member
• information that individuals report to us directly using a Transfer balance event notification form (NAT 74919) – this includes a
  • family law payment split
  • debit event from fraud, dishonesty, or bankruptcy
  • structured settlement contributions made before 1 July 2007
• information other funds will report to us such as a member’s interest in an APRA fund.

When you need to report

All SMSFs must report events that affect their members’ transfer balances. Due dates will depend on their total super balance until 30 June 2023, however there are instances where you need to report sooner.

We encourage you to report events before they are due because it:

• helps members manage their transfer balance account and avoid exceeding their personal transfer balance cap
• helps ensure our calculation of a member’s personal transfer balance cap is based on full and accurate information, in particular for events that occur in the income year before indexation
• avoids incorrect excess transfer balance determinations being issued.

You do not need to report to us if no event occurs.

For help with reporting, see our event-based reporting case studies.

Find more guidance in the Law Companion Ruling, LCR 2016/9 Superannuation reform transfer balance cap.

Until 30 June 2023

Due dates for transfer balance event reporting are determined by the total super balances of an SMSF’s members, unless they need to report sooner.

Total balance $1 million or more

If the total balance of any of your members was $1 million or more on 30 June the year before the first member starts their retirement phase income stream, you must report quarterly.

This means you must report the event that affects the members transfer balance within 28 days after the end of the quarter where the event occurs.

Total balance less than $1 million

If the total balance was less than $1 million, you can report annually at the same time you lodge your SMSF annual return.

From 1 July 2023, you will no longer be able to lodge annually. We recommend you start lodging quarterly now.

From 1 July 2023

All SMSFs will be required to report quarterly, even if the members total super balance is less than $1 million. This means you must report the event that affects the members transfer balance within 28 days after the end of the quarter in which the event occurs.

All unreported events that occurred before 30 September 2023 must be reported by 28 October 2023. This means you cannot report at the same time as your SMSF annual return (SAR) for the 2022–23 income year.

When you need to report sooner

If a member exceeds their personal transfer balance cap, you must report the following events sooner:

• a voluntary member commutation of an income steam in response to an excess transfer balance (ETB) determination – this must be reported within 10 business days after the end of the month in which the commutation occurs
• responses to commutation authorities which must be reported within 60 days of the date the commutation authority was issued.

If an individual has exceeded their cap and we issue an excess transfer balance determination or commutation authority based on incomplete or incorrect information, you must correct the reporting as soon as possible. This enables us to revoke the determination or commutation authority.

Earlier reporting is encouraged in some situations

We encourage you to report earlier, especially in these cases:

• Report events that occur in the income year before indexation of the transfer balance cap as soon as possible to ensure our calculation of an individual’s personal cap is based on complete information and less likely to need to be reviewed.
• Report the commutation of a pension that occurs when the member commutes their pension and rolls it over to another fund at the time of the roll-over. If they are rolling into an APRA-regulated fund and starting an income stream there, report when it happens so their income stream is not counted twice.
• Report a member’s pension account is being rolled over as the SMSF is winding up by lodging a TBAR before it is wound up.

Consequences of late reporting

We encourage members to lodge their transfer balance reporting as soon as possible to avoid adverse consequences.

If an SMSF does not lodge a TBAR by the required date, the member’s transfer balance account will be adversely affected. They may need to commute more money to rectify any excess and pay more excess transfer balance tax. There may also be reverse workflow for the trustee.

If the SMSF is late reporting a commutation made after we issued an excess transfer balance determination to the member, we may send a commutation authority to their fund. This puts the member at risk of having the excess amount removed from retirement phase twice.

An SMSF may be subject to compliance action and penalties if they do not lodge on time or respond to a commissioner commutation authority. Non-compliance with a commutation authority may result in denying exempt current pension income (ECPI) claims.

Valuing assets for reporting

In line with our valuation guidelines for SMSFs, the trustee may choose to use a reasonable estimate of the value of an income stream to meet their TBAR obligations. This usually occurs when the member starts a pension part way through the year.

We expect that, as part of choosing to start a pension, an individual will have a reasonable estimate of the value of that pension. In some instances, it may be wise to bring valuation practices forward.

If the trustee has used a reasonable estimate and the value of that income stream significantly changes, the trustee may correct the value initially reported to us.

Record keeping

Trustees have an obligation to ensure:

• their TBAR reporting is true and correct
• the commencement and commutation of retirement phase income streams is supported by contemporaneous fund records
• payments to members have been correctly characterised at the time the payment was requested so trustees and auditors can ensure the minimum pension payment standards have been met (this is especially important where pension payments have been made from an income stream that has also been commuted in full or in part during the year)
• their TBAR reporting for the commencement and commutation of retirement phase income streams also aligns with their ECPI claim for a year
• relevant documentation is clearly passed on to their auditor.

Amended reporting

TBAR re-reporting by SMSF trustees will be monitored. We may request evidence of relevant documents and calculations to substantiate the TBAR amendment.

Source: ATO

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