July 2017’s super reforms introduced a new reporting regime for funds. 

SMSFs now need to advise the ATO of key events within the fund that impact on retirement income streams (pensions):

• When you start a pension
• When you stop a pension or take a lump sum
• When the fund accepts a structured settlement contribution such as personal injury compensation.

Superannuation funds are also required to report the value of existing superannuation income streams at 30 June 2017.

While reporting of these events to the ATO does not formally start until 1 July 2018 for SMSFs, event-based reporting still needs to be completed if these events occur from 1 July 2017 – that is, you have a reprieve from the compliance but not the actual reporting.

If we are managing your SMSF’s accounting and compliance, we will track most of these events for you electronically where you have enabled us to access feeds from your SMSF’s bank accounts. If we see any transactions that could meet the reporting criteria, we will be in touch with you to confirm the nature of these events.

Where electronic feeds are not available – if your bank does not support them or where you have opted not to enable the feeds – you will need to let us know about these events at the time they occur.

Related reading: Australian super reform – common questions

In addition to the new events based reporting regime, SMSFs are also obliged to report any of the following changes to the ATO within 28 days:

1. fund name
2. fund address
3. contact person for the fund
4. fund membership
5. fund trustees, and
6. the directors of the fund’s corporate trustee

Superannuation is an intricate area and personalised planning is required for each individual. Call Mitchell Partners in Melbourne on 03 9895 9333.