An Accurium poll conducted among practitioners has revealed, while the ATO early engagement and voluntary disclosure service for SMSFs has not been widely accessed, it has proved highly satisfactory when it has been used.
The survey conducted during a technical webinar showed only 16 per cent of advisers’ SMSF clients had used the facility. However, 68 per cent of this cohort gave the service a satisfaction score of at least seven out of 10.
Analysing the figures in more detail 32 per cent of advisers whose trustee clients had engaged with the ATO via an early voluntary disclosure gave the experience a score of 10 out of 10. A further 8 per cent rated the service a nine out of 10 while another 8 per cent gave it a satisfaction rating eight out of 10.
Accurium head of education Mark Ellem acknowledged the fact the early engagement and voluntary disclosure service had not been used much is a positive result.
“It’s a good sign that they haven’t used it because there hasn’t been a regulatory contravention they need to deal with. That’s a positive way it could be interpreted,” Ellem said.
During the same online session he took the opportunity to inform attendees of how the new transfer balance cap reporting TBAR quarterly deadlines will be applied.
From 1 July 2023 all TBAR will be completed and lodged within 28 days of the end of the previous quarter without exception. This means the TBAR relating to 30 June 2023, for SMSFs that are currently yearly reporters, will have to be completed and sent to the ATO by 28 October, he stipulated.
Ellem admitted he previously thought compliance with the new regime would only have to be adhered to by yearly reporters if they had relevant pension transactions that occurred after 1 July 2023. This would mean dealing with two reporting time frames in the interim as relevant transactions relating to the 2022/23 income year could be reported anytime un until 15 May 2024.
“This will remove the issue that may occur where you’d be reporting events out of [chronological] date,” Ellem said.
The ATO announced in June all SMSFs will lodge TBARs quarterly regardless of the fund’s total super balance.
https://smsmagazine.com.au/news/2022/06/29/ato-streamlines-smsf-tbar/
