by Mark Phillips

Overdue annual returns for SMSFs are firmly in the sights of the ATO. In public presentations and announcements over the past 12 months. The ATO have made it very clear they are a priority, with tens of thousands of funds having overdue lodgements, and in many cases having never lodged an annual return at all.

The ATO now routinely remove regulation details from the Super Fund Lookup database for funds with overdue lodgements. Without a complying status, APRA regulated funds won’t process rollover requests and employers may withhold super guarantee contributions.

We expect the ATO will continue to escalate activity against late lodgers, which can include non-lodgement penalties, enforcement action against trustees and even moving to have funds wound up.

In what has been a challenging year to date, meeting lodgement deadlines may have proven more difficult than usual. It is disconcerting to realise that funds with overdue returns have a due date of 2nd November for their 2020 return. That’s just 6 weeks away!

We understand that it can sometimes be difficult to get clients to provide their information in a timely manner, and with competing priorities within your business it can be difficult to find the time to follow them up.

During this period the SMSF Engine team have been able to maintain a high lodgement rate across the funds we service. Having a specialist team focussed solely on getting the work done ensures we can achieve consistent results. In fact, our early measures show that the team are ahead of schedule compared to previous years, at least one positive of having our team working under lockdown in Melbourne.

If you are under the pump and need short-term help with your funds, or would like discuss how you can use our services on an ongoing basis, we’d love the opportunity to speak with you as to how we can get you back on track.

Please contact us if you need a hand on 1300 364 597.