A wider range of advice related to SMSFs will be captured under changes to the anti-money laundering/counter-terrorism funding (AML/CTF) legislation, which will include the work of accountants alongside advisers as the law shifts its focus to the actions undertaken on behalf of clients.
SMSF Association policy manager Keddie Waller said the second tranche of changes to the AML/CTF regime, which already applies to financial advisers, will include accountants and will no longer be defined by professions, but work undertaken on behalf of clients.
“Accountants or the services they provide were always intended to be regulated, but it’s been delayed,” Waller said at the recent SMSF Association National Conference 2025 in Melbourne.
“This reform comes through as part of the guillotine motion [in the Senate] that happened on 10 December and the sad thing about being rushed through, it does mean the timeline for transitions is very, very tight.”
She added this meant existing reporting entities that provide a designated service must comply by 31 March this year and new reporting entities have from 1 July 2026.
“So this change is about what services you are providing. It is not about who you are,” she said.
“[For accountants] you need to think about removing the roles from how you’re looking at this and just think about what services you’re providing.
“The designated services are very broadly defined and they use words like planning, arranging, assisting, on behalf of and that has a broad implication in terms of your role.
“There’s a new definition of a legal arrangement which includes an ‘express trust’, so that is SMSFs, so if you’re in this space and providing advice and setting them up, you are going to be caught as a designated service.”
She also noted where an accountant or adviser provides a registered post office for an SMSF trustee, that would also be viewed as a designated service.
“We’ve engaged with Austrac on this and said an SMSF is a different type of vehicle compared with some other entities it is looking at. There are clear rules about when money can be taken out, so we’re saying this should not be looked at as a designated service,” she said.
“We don’t have a clear position on that requirement, but it is an area we are working on with Austrac.”
