ATO sets its sights on SMSFs
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has unveiled a new program for the 2012-13 financial year that will put the spotlight firmly on self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs).
According to the ATO's Compliance Program 2012-13, the tax office will look at the 200 largest SMSFs by total assets and then subject 25 of them to a comprehensive audit "based on our analysis of their tax and regulatory risk".
The ATO will also be looking closely at SMSFs that fail to lodge on time. Trustees who are late in lodging their returns may have to pay interest on outstanding tax and could face prosecution, according to the tax office.
"We are conscious that failure to lodge can be an attempt to avoid detection of a regulatory breach. We have access to extensive information to help us identify these SMSFs and we will focus on improving their lodgement performance," the ATO stated.
The ATO will audit 30 SMSFs that lodged their annual return following lodgement enforcement action and "exhibit attributes across a range of income tax and regulatory risks".
The tax office will also continue to review registered SMSFs to make sure "the expected lodgement population is accurate".
"We will target over 1,500 SMSFs that have failed to lodge, to either obtain lodgement or to remove them from the SMSF population," the ATO said.
Over 3,000 SMSFs will be contacted in relation to their exempt current pension income (ECPI) claim, and 100 self-managed funds will be audited and reviewed to ensure they are investing on a commercial, arm's-length basis.
The ATO will also audit and review 150 approved auditors "to ensure they are properly fulfilling their role in accordance with the law and relevant professional competencies and standards".
According to the report, there are currently over 468,000 SMSFs in Australia.
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