The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA) is seeking clarification of the forecast revenue numbers contained in the 2011 federal budget relating to registration fees for self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) auditors.
On budget night, the government revealed it was expecting to receive $1.8 million over the next four years from the new SMSF auditor registration regime.
"I'm seeking some clarification around that because I'm curious to know what numbers they've actually based that figure on. There are 11,500 auditors at the moment and I don't think anywhere near that amount will actually get through the registration process," ICAA head of superannuation Liz Westover told InvestorDaily.
She is particularly concerned about what might happen if the revenue amount has been grossly overstated.
"If this is the case the revenue number obviously will go down, but if the government is not satisfied with allowing this to happen, the fee could go up," Westover said.
"That's the whole reason why I want more information on the forecasted number. For example, if the government raised the auditor registration fee from $50 to $500, that's pretty significant, so we'll seek some figures around that one," she explained.
Westover also wanted additional details in regard to the initiative of having superannuation payment information included on people's pay slips.
"That information will be given by the employer to the employee and then employers and employees will receive quarterly notification from the super fund where regular payments have ceased," she explained.
Specifically Westover is concerned about the practical implications of these new reporting obligations.
"What sort of onus will be put on the super fund and what will the cost be to the super fund to actually do this," she said.
"So it seems like a great initiative, but we'll really need o flesh out the detail to find out what sort of impact it will have more broadly."
