The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is about to commence its series of face-to-face visits with advisers servicing self-managed superannuation funds (SMSF) for 2012.
The regulator is planning to conduct meetings with SMSF professionals in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide.
The interviews will be conducted by ATO assistant commissioners Stuart Forsyth, who will cover the area of superannuation, and Ann Hurst, who will be examining aggressive tax planning.
The continuing initiative comes after 58 advisers were visited last year with positive results.
"It gave us insight to the 'hot' issues facing the SMSF industry," the ATO said.
"We have conducted similar visits for two years and a different approach will be trialled this year. We will meet with a smaller but diverse group of SMSF advisers, such as auditors and administrators. This will allow us to discuss matters at length and in depth."
The exercise is designed to develop better support services for SMSF advisers as well as trustees.
Specifically, the meetings will go towards achieving the ATO's goals of establishing an improved amount of engagement with the SMSF industry, gleaning a better understanding of the trends emerging in the SMSF sector, and identifying any issues needing to be addressed.
The discussions will be of a general nature and will not cover any client-specific matters.
