The Self-Managed Super Fund Professionals' Association of Australia (SPAA) is in the process of informing superannuation trustees about the new member verification procedures the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has now put in place.
In particular, the industry association is letting Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) fund trustees know they can now check to see if an individual is a member of a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) online.
This can be done via the ATO Business Portal that can be accessed through an AUSkey or ATO Digital Certificate.
In essence, the new system should accelerate the rollover of member balances from APRA-regulated funds into SMSFs.
"It also means it should not be necessary for funds to request copies of SMSF trust deeds and other documentation from SMSFs if they are able to verify the member through this new service," SPAA national technical director Peter Burgess said.
"It has been common practice in the past for some funds to request certified copies of trust deeds and other documents, which dramatically increases the time it takes to roll over funds to a new SMSF.
"We are confident that funds will embrace this new service and avoid practices which may have in the past unnecessarily held up the transfer process to a new SMSF."
In its correspondence to APRA fund trustees, SPAA has emphasised an SMSF classified as "registered - status not determined" can accept rollovers when the new verification process is used.
"This is a significant step forward for the SMSF sector as it streamlines the process for establishing an SMSF, while at the same time protecting trustee security," Burgess said.
