Cultural change away from a compliance focus is the key for accountants who want to successfully incorporate advisory services into their practices, according to a senior professional trainer.

The SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) has called on the federal government to reduce the annual levy self-managed funds have to pay to the Australian Taxation Office in the upcoming budget.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has warned SMSF trustees to carefully evaluate the professional standards employed by organisations offering administrative services based overseas before making a commitment to using them.

The federal government’s decision to scrap the proposed system that would allow Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)-regulated super funds to verify the existence of SMSF bank accounts could have adverse consequences, according to an industry expert.

The SMSF Professionals’ Association of Australia (SPAA) announced the winners of its annual industry awards on the final day of the organisation’s 2014 national conference in Brisbane last month.

While the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has withdrawn its proposed action seeking to legally outlaw excessive contribution provisions within an SMSF trust deed as a means to prevent trustees from breaching the non-concessional contributions cap, the practical application of this course of action seems unworkable, according to an expert superannuation lawyer.

A discussion panel of regulators containing representatives from Treasury, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has unanimously given a positive assessment of the SMSF sector.