SMSF establishments surge

Almost 690,000 people are now members of self-managed superannuation funds and, on average, each fund holds around $800,0000, according to the latest data released by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

An information update released by the ATO this week also revealed that the number of SMSFs in Australia had risen significantly over the past 12 months from around 320,000 at the end of June last year to almost 360,000 at the end of June, this year.

“To put this growth in context, the monthly average of SMSF registrations in the 2006-07 financial year was over 3,800 compared with around 2,000 a month between June, 2004, and June, 2006,” the ATO said.

The Tax Office said it remained concerned about people using their fund to gain illegal early access to superannuation and pointed out that last year it had contacted members of 450 SMSFs who had inappropriately accessed their superannuation.

It said that it had also come to the attention of the ATO that some trustees had made inappropriate investments such as acquiring a residential property from a fund member, while some companies and trusts had transferred assets including cash to superannuation funds without correctly accounting for the transactions.