ATO calls time on laggard SMSFs
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has stated it will begin compliance action against self managed superannuation funds (SMSF) that have not lodged a tax return and cancel the registration of inactive funds that have been registered for two years.
The ATO stated it would also remove SMSFs from Super Fund Lookup in the event they had two or more year's worth of overdue returns until funds lodgements were brought up to date.
The push is part of a focus by the ATO on newly registered SMSFs to ensure on-time lodging of tax returns with some funds not operating in their first year to be issued a ‘return not necessary' (RNN) indicator.
However the ATO said this would apply for a year only and SMSFs would have to lodge a return in subsequent years. SMSFs that have not started to operate in their second year will be encouraged to cancel their fund registration.
The SMSF Professionals' Association of Australia (SPAA) said the ATO warning was a timely reminder for the need of specialised fund auditor.
"This timely warning from the ATO just reinforces a key SPAA message — that having a skilled auditor is critically important for every SMSF trustee," SPAA chief executive Andrea Slattery said.
SPAA launched its specialist auditor program in late 2012.
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