Leading SMSF administration software specialist Class has continued to develop automation in the SMSF sector, announcing a collaboration with Australian depreciation schedule provider Depreciator.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has announced it will contact SMSF trustees who have fallen foul of the dividend stripping arrangements as defined in Taxpayer Alert 2015/1 (TA 2015/1), allowing them to correct the tax positions of their funds without penalty.

The ATO has revealed over half of SMSFs receiving employer contributions are doing so via SuperStream, labelling it a pleasing result so far.

Leading superannuation law firm Townsends Business and Corporate Lawyers is encouraging SMSF trustees and advisers to review any arrangements where the fund is using a unit trust as an investment vehicle in light of coming legislative amendments.

The SMSF Association has warned accountants not to expect an extension to the 1 July deadline for the new licensing rules and has implored them to act now to ensure they will be able to provide SMSF advice legitimately under the new legislative framework.

SMSFs will continue to use exchange-traded funds (ETF) to fulfil income needs and achieve better tax advantages in 2016, according to an ETF executive.

Arguments that the margins of large SMSF administration firms will take a significant hit as more trustees opt to do their own accounting or switch to traditional accountancy services have been dismissed as “nonsense” by one administrator.

The Cooper review found only 13 per cent of SMSFs held any form of life insurance and, in response, the government introduced regulation 4.09(2)(e) of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) (SIS) Act 1994, which commenced at the start of the 2013 financial year.

The SMSF Association has applauded the federal government’s proposed move to extend choice of superannuation fund via legislation.