Further regulation and policy must be considered to protect SMSFs from being used by the government to fill in budget deficit holes, according to the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA).
“There’s so much money now going into SMSFs, so it’s being seen as more and more as a honeypot, so is it properly regulated?” IPA executive general manager Vicki Stylianou told selfmanagedsuper.
“We’re hoping it’s not a trend to see SMSFs as some kind of honeypot to fix budget deficits.
“I think post-election that will be something that may start to get more legs in terms of policy.”
Stylianou said Australia’s $500 billion SMSF sector should not take a hit from more taxes as trustees and members needed certainty for their retirement.
“If there’s a fall-over or if there are problems, will those people end up on the public purse?” she said.
“Everyone’s feeling reform fatigue, but at the same time we want meaningful policy development.
“Also, if they’ve put a five-year moratorium on it in the first term, does that mean we’re not allowed to talk about major issues such as whether we need more regulation in relation to the SMSF sector?”
The IPA would continue to collaborate and speak with industry players and participants on the issue, including the SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia and ASIC, she said.
“Regulation of SMSFs is an ongoing thing and all of us in the space talk regularly about the developments and what’s happening,” she said.
