ATO taking initiative with SMSF compliance

TheAustralian Taxation Office(ATO) will introduce electronic lodgement of self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) registration documentation at the end of August.

With the time frame for approval of SMSF registration set to be shrunk from 28 days to a matter of minutes, the development will remove “probably one of the biggest irritants” for professionals administering SMSFs, according to Tony Keir, ATO national relationships manager, small funds compliance.

“It will mean almost instantaneous registration — if applicants give us all the necessary data and it gets accepted, the system will provide an ABN straight away,” Keir says.

Speaking at the Australia’s SuperFuture conference in Sydney last week, Keir says the ATO has overcome technical problems with electronic signatures for trustees to ensure the system is secure.

Keir also says the ATO is now being more cautious with its registration check process, following a spate of scams where a number of people attempted to lodge more than 100 SMSF registrations a month in an attempt to access preserved benefits.

And while acknowledging that electronic lodgement could smooth the way for similar rorting attempts, Keir says the ATO will swoop on anyone found to be improperly using the system.

“It’s certainly easier to register, so you could draw a line and say that it could then be easier to undertake multiple registrations, but we’ve still got registration checks in place and if you trip some of the triggers, there will certainly be some action.”

Given the specific responsibilities for members and trustees that SMSFs carry, and that the number of SMSFs is growing at a rate of around 2,000 a month, the ATO has also trialled a trustee education program over the last 12 months, to ensure trustees are aware of all their reporting obligations.

The results have been positive to date, with Keir deflecting criticism about the ATO’s motives.

“We’re not trying to scope out early audits, we’re just trying to be proactive and give early warnings, so trustees can be provided with further information if they need it,” Keir says.