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ATO

Reminder COVID relief has expired

ATO COVID-19 relief

A reminder has been issued by the ATO to SMSF trustees and auditors reminding both groups the COVID-19 compliance relief measures no longer apply.

The ATO has issued a reminder to SMSF trustees and auditors that all of the compliance relief measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have now come to an end.

In its message, the regulator specifically referred to four main areas of relief offered for the 2020, 2021 and the 2022 financial years. The four areas are relief for the SMSF trustee residency rules, in-house asset relief, rental relief for tenants of a property owned by an SMSF and loan relief, including that relating to a limited recourse borrowing arrangement.

“As our COVID-19 support has ended, for the 2022/23 income year and later years we expect trustees to now comply with their obligations under the income tax and super laws previously covered by the relief, and approved SMSF auditors must report contraventions to us via the auditor/actuary contravention report where the reporting criteria is met,” the ATO said.

It stipulated for any relief granted under the coronavirus compliance rules for the 2022 income year, trustees need to have documentation detailing those arrangements they can provide the fund auditor as part of the year-end audit procedure.

Further, it encouraged trustees to take advantage of the ATO voluntary disclosure service and formulate a plan of rectification should any contraventions occur.

The ATO has also informed superannuants of its new online service allowing individuals to track the non-concessional contributions they have made via the myGov facility.

“The non-concessional contribution information displays the remaining cap amount for the financial year, whether the member is close to exceeding the cap for the financial year, and if the member has exceeded the cap, it shows the amount by using clear labels and coloured indicators,” it stated.

At the same time, information for superannuation members about their concessional contributions cap usage via the ATO’s online services has also been updated.

“The latest enhancements include coloured indicators and clear labels such as ‘eligible’ or ‘not eligible’ so members can easily view and manage their information,” it said.

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