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ARTICLE · 10 MARCH 2013

Superannuation - new regime for punishing SMSF trustees

Cooper Grace Ward
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Draft legislation designed to give the ATO more flexibility in dealing with breaches by SMSF trustees has been released.

AustraliaFinance and Banking
Greg Cahill
Greg Cahill
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Draft legislation designed to give the ATO more flexibility in dealing with breaches of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act or Regulations by SMSF trustees has been released. The changes are intended to take effect from 1 July 2013.

The proposed new penalties will significantly extend the ATO's ability to deal with non-compliance and will apply to existing breaches that continue after 30 June 2013.

In the case of non-compliance, the proposals allow the ATO to:

  • issue a 'rectification direction'
  • issue an 'education direction'
  • impose an administrative penalty of up to $10,200 for each breach personally payable by the offending trustee or director.

The new powers will be additional to the ATO's existing enforcement powers and only apply to SMSFs, including those superannuation funds that would have been a SMSF but failed to meet the requirements of section 17A of the SIS Act.

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