SPAA urges SMSFs to get quality advice
The SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) has urged self-managed super funds (SMSFs) to get quality advice after the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) announced it would increase its monitoring of the sector.
Earlier this week, the ATO said it intended to increase audits of SMSF trustees for both their regulatory and income tax compliance. The office added it intended to audit 1100 funds for income tax compliance and 15,100 funds for regulatory compliance this financial year.
SPAA senior manager, technical and policy, Jordan George said getting professional advice had never been more important.
“The ATO are specifically targeting prohibited loans, related party transactions, SMSF return lodgements and funds with a history of non-compliance,” George said.
“In this environment, SMSF trustees need to ask themselves, are they getting the best possible advice, and if they aren’t, is it worth risking their fund’s complying status?” he added.
“Being made non-complying can severely damage trustees’ retirement plans as their fund loses its superannuation tax concessions.”
The ATO overview also highlighted that the 98 per cent of SMSFs complied with the law in the 2012-13 financial year.
“This confirms what SPAA has been saying - that the SMSF sector is a healthy, compliant and well-functioning sector of the superannuation industry, simply confirming what the Cooper Review stated in its final report in 2010,” George said.
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