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ARTICLE · 17 FEBRUARY 2015

SMSF penalty regime – is it really new? Trustees and advisers beware!

Cooper Grace Ward
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Perhaps those rules were not necessary, as existing powers can financially penalise SMSF trustees for certain breaches.

AustraliaFinance and Banking
Scott Hay-Bartlem
Scott Hay-Bartlem
Clinton Jackson
Clinton Jackson
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1 July 2014 saw the commencement of the new administrative penalty regime, introduced to give the ATO options for trustees who breach the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 that are not as extreme as making the SMSF non-complying.

However, the October 2014 case of Deputy Commissioner of Taxation (Superannuation) v Graham Family Superannuation Pty Ltd [2014] FCA 1101 and the January 2015 case of Olesen v Early Sunshine Pty Ltd [2015] FCA 12 suggest that perhaps those rules were not necessary, as there was already power to financially penalise trustees of SMSFs for certain breaches.

In Graham's case the conduct that gave rise to the penalties occurred between August 2007 and February 2013, and involved:

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