The ATO has specified certain events tax agents and SMSF trustees should not include and other procedures they should not attempt when lodging a transfer balance account report (TBAR).
One message the SMSF regulator stressed during a recent webinar was for individuals lodging a TBAR to stick to including information that is only relevant to the fund in question.
“Events you really, really shouldn’t try to report to us include amendments to reporting by other funds,” ATO superannuation director Helen Morgan said.
“For example, you cannot report or amend information reported to us by an APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) fund as you can only use the online form to report an event to us for an SMSF.”
Morgan also warned against improper procedure with regard to correcting TBAR errors that have been identified.
“Please do not try to cancel a cancellation TBAR. That creates some confusion for us in our systems,” she said.
“Once we have processed the cancellation TBAR, you’ll need to report the event you cancelled again in error.”
She revealed the ATO is conscious of the new process and was looking to hear from users with a view to improving it.
“We welcome all feedback on the online services environment throughout its current public beta phase,” she said.
“We will collect and analyse the feedback you provide to help us understand your experience and needs. We will use that feedback to determine the priorities in fixing any identified issues, like those listed on the troubleshooting page, and we will use the feedback to determine if improvements can be made to the system.”
Analysing the feedback data did not mean individual responses would be provided to everyone communicating their assessment of the system to the ATO, she said.
“[However,] we may contact you if we need further clarity on the feedback provided,” she added.
