The federal opposition’s proposed policy of allowing imputation credit refunds to be paid only to those SMSFs with a member receiving an age pension payment has drawn more criticism, this time from the partner of an accounting firm.

The ATO has revealed that 11,000 SMSFs have lodged a transfer balance account report (TBAR), despite event-based reporting for SMSFs officially due to start on 1 July.

An SMSF expert has questioned whether the federal government’s proposal to increase the maximum number of allowable members into an SMSF is a “knee-jerk” reaction to Labor’s franking dividend policy.

The 2018 budget proposal to transfer all inactive superannuation accounts where balances are below $6000 to the ATO will have unintended consequences for SMSFs that also have industry and retail super accounts, according to a lawyer.

SMSFs that take advantage of the budget measure to increase the number of members allowed in a fund must think through issues such as increased administrative complexity, behavioural factors when it comes to investing, risk profiles, additional trustee penalties and increased risk of trustee disputes.

Superannuation was not subjected to the glare of the spotlight in last night’s federal budget as strongly as it has been in recent years, however, a collection of smaller changes will still provide opportunities for clients, particularly for those with SMSFs, according to industry executives.

The 2018 federal budget measure allowing individuals earning in excess of $263,157 a year from multiple employers to nominate a single employer from where super guarantee (SG) contributions will be made has been described by an industry technical expert as a common-sense move that should have been implemented years earlier.