Addressing reported contraventions of a self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) is a critical factor in determining if the regulator will exercise any relief powers, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) assistant commissioner said.
Stuart Forsyth made the comments at yesterday's 2012 Self-Managed Super Funds Professionals' Association of Australia (SPAA) National Conference in Sydney.
Forsyth cited a recent legal case, Montgomery Woods, where an appeal was lodged to have the non-complying status of an SMSF overturned, as an example of this.
The Montgomery Woods case saw an unfavourable decision awarded against the SMSF trustees. One of the key points was no real action had been taken to address the offending contravention in question.
"I think that's a bit of a heads up. If people have got serious contraventions, they really need to take them seriously," Forsyth said.
In relation to other compliance issues, he warned the ATO would still be focusing a lot of its energies on making sure SMSF lodge their annual returns on time.
"You cannot be a compliant fund if you do not lodge your returns. That's by definition. And I realise I'm probably preaching to the converted, but it is something we will continue to hammer people about," Forsyth said.
The reason why the ATO is so insistent on having returns lodged goes well beyond tax reasons, he said.
"The return isn't just a normal tax return. It's also regulatory data and the payment of your levy all of which is important in its own right," he said.
As part of his presentation, Forsyth offered statistics that showed 72 per cent of SMSFs lodge annual returns on time while the remaining 28 per cent lodge returns late or not at all.
To view video coverage of the 2012 SPAA SMSF National Conference, please visit InvestorDaily's video page.
