As the regulator of self managed super funds, the ATO may disqualify people as trustees, or as directors of corporate trustees, of self managed superannuation funds in certain circumstances. Broadly, those circumstances are where the person is considered not to be a fit and proper person or where the person has breached the SIS Act and due to the nature, number or seriousness of the contraventions, the person should be disqualified.
The ATO exercises this power liberally with 186 people being disqualified in the 2020 calendar year alone.
Disqualification is extremely serious – the person's name is published in the Government Gazette and is placed on an easily searchable Excel spreadsheet on the internet for all the world to see. Further, the disqualification is for life and effectively forces the person out of the self managed super fund system as a person can only be a member of a self managed fund if they are also a trustee or director of the trustee.
