The ATO remains concerned by the large number of in-house audits of SMSFs, despite auditors not being permitted to conduct them since 1 January 2020.
ATO SMSF risk and intelligence director Paul Delahunty said: “We are seeing in-house audits at a rate that’s significantly higher than what we say we’d be comfortable with.”
Speaking to attendees of the SMSF Association National Conference 2026 in Adelaide today, Delahunty said since March 2025, the ATO has had around 800 auditors on its radar who were still conducting in-house audits.
“We ramped up our narrative around this in 2021 and we’re still seeing a healthy population of auditors that are providing audit services as well as preparation of financial statements,” he said.
“The reality is, when we do pick up those auditors for review, our suspicion does play out.”
He said when the ATO engages with these auditors, it often finds many believe the non-audit services they are providing alongside the audits are routine and mechanical, but that generally is not the case in regards to the circumstances of their firm.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) enforcement inquiries and compliance senior executive leader Peter Ridgley added the regulator was aware of 650 auditors that had more than one year of outstanding annual auditor statements.
“There are a number of people that we contact and they say: ‘I do 300 audits a year. I didn’t know [I had] to do that annual statement,’” Ridgley said.
He pointed out the annual statement is no different to an auditor’s annual attestation to their professional body, but does not have accompanying membership fees.
“There is no annual fee. I think because there’s not a fee that goes with it, you forget it’s an important tool in ensuring compliance with the SIS (Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act,” he said.
The ATO also has a “reasonably sized population” of SMSF auditors who have their own fund and are also significantly behind on filing their own annual returns.
“We’ve got 20 cases that we’ve got underway at the moment and those auditors are putting themselves and their livelihood at stake by being behind on their obligations,” Delahunty said, noting as non-lodging trustees they can be disqualified and referred to ASIC.
