The need to have a written investment strategy within an SMSF has been emphasised by the volatility of worldwide equity markets over the past week, according to the SMSF Association.

The ATO has announced it will come down heavily on SMSFs participating in what are perceived as tax avoidance schemes during the 2016 financial year. Speaking at the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand National SMSF Conference 2015 on the Gold Coast last month, ATO superannuation acting assistant commissioner Kasey Macfarlane said: “These arrangements are […]

Financial advisers needed to assist SMSF trustees to dispel some of the myths about the sector and superannuation in general to ensure the best strategies could be implemented for those funds and that they remained compliant, according to a former ATO official said.

SMSF auditors should be revising their retainers and reconfirming the veracity of the information being used in the process immediately as the instances of trustees challenging the audit report when a fund suffers loss is on the rise, a specialist lawyer has said.

The number of qualified audit reports regarding SMSFs with asset acquired before 1999 was likely to rise in the coming years as record-keeping for those assets began to decline due to the passage of time, according to an audit specialist.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has introduced two new online services for SMSF members using its CommSec or NetBank services.

SMSF advisers and accountants needed to make sure the correct client parameters were established for referral arrangements with other service providers in the sector to be truly effective, according to an industry consultant.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has declared its intentions to process any licensing applications from accountants before 1 March 2016 in the most timely manner possible.

The ATO had so far applied its new administration penalty powers for SMSF compliance breaches in a moderate and conciliatory manner, according to a lawyer.