SMSFs with an electronic service address (ESA) that is not SuperStream rollover enabled are not required to update it if the fund members are not planning on making any rollovers into or out of the fund.
Accurium head of education Mark Ellem said that while the SuperStream rollover service from the ATO had been in operation since October 2021, there was no mandatory requirement for an SMSF to change an ESA.
“An SMSF will already have an ESA [prior to SuperStream], but the ESA provider may not be upgrading to be SuperStream rollover enabled, so is it required to upgrade?” Ellem said during a webinar today.
“Only if you need to because if all it is doing is receiving employer contributions via SuperStream and there’s no intention it’s going to have rollovers coming into or out of the fund, such as members joining or exiting the SMSF, then you can keep your current ESA.”
He noted an SMSF can only hold one ESA and any plans to make a rollover had to be accompanied by a new address. Alternatively, he suggested the original ESA could be retained and any rollovers completed with a new address between employer contributions.
“Keep in mind if you’re also receiving employer contributions via SuperStream, then you would need to advise the employer of the change of ESA,” he said.
“Otherwise there’s going to be an issue as they will be using an old ESA that no longer applies or you need to do the rollover in between employer contributions and swap it back when the rollover is complete.”
Last year, the ATO noted that where an SMSF’s ESA provider had complied with SuperStream requirements, funds were not required to seek a new ESA to use the service, but should still check their provider would be offering the rollover and release authority services they may require.
