BDO’s Super Quarterly Update | September 2024

Welcome to our first edition of BDO’s Superannuation Quarterly Update for the 2025 financial year, where we provide the latest news and insights from the ever-changing superannuation and self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) landscape in Australia.

In this update, we cover important announcements from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), lost superannuation, upcoming lodgement dates, and a Q&A with BDO Director, Tenille Ireland, from our Adelaide Superannuation team.

What is the Regulator saying?

Be scam aware – know how to identify and report ATO impersonation scams

The ATO has issued a reminder to stay vigilant as scammers become progressively more sophisticated. Since January 2024, 80 per cent of scams reported to the ATO were via email, so it’s important to be aware of the top things you can do to avoid being scammed:

Never click on any links in emails or SMS messages that ask you to log into a government service, such as your myGov account - the ATO no longer includes any hyperlinks in their correspondence, so if you receive a message from the ATO with a link, it is a scam
Keep in mind that the ATO will never ask you to provide personal information via email, SMS or over the phone
If an email looks suspicious, don’t click on any attachments – reach out to the ATO directly
Keep an eye on your bank accounts and report any unusual transactions.

If you receive an email from the ATO that you believe is a scam, forward it to reportscams@ato.gov.au, or call your BDO adviser for assistance.

The SMSF early engagement and voluntary disclosure service

The ATO acknowledges there are several obligations to meet when running your SMSF, and sometimes mistakes can happen. While your SMSF auditor will report any contraventions when they perform their audit of your fund’s financial statements, this can occur many months after the mistake has happened.

The ATO has a service called the SMSF early engagement and voluntary disclosure service. This allows SMSF trustees to contact the ATO at any time to let them know a contravention has occurred.

To lodge a voluntary disclosure, there are several steps you need to take:

Complete the relevant form
Provide all facts and supporting documentation in relation to the contravention
Devise a plan to rectify the contravention as soon as possible.

Not all mistakes need a voluntary disclosure, so if you believe you may need to use this service, reach out to BDO’s Superannuation team for support. We have significant experience in preparing and lodging these disclosures and can help you at each step along the way.

Division 293 assessments

The ATO has reminded SMSF trustees that Division 293 assessments cannot just be paid from the SMSF - there are a number of steps that must be taken before the payment can be made.

Individuals may be subject to Division 293 tax on their super contributions if their total income and contributions exceed a specified threshold during the financial year. Currently, this threshold is $250,000. The ATO assess whether there is a Division 293 tax liability after the SMSF member has submitted their individual tax return and the SMSF has lodged its annual return.

If the SMSF member incurs a Division 293 liability, the ATO will issue a notice of assessment. The member can then choose to pay it using personal funds or release some contributions from their superannuation fund. If the member chooses to release funds from their superannuation fund, they must make an election to release the money from super. This can be done online via myGov, or by sending a form to the ATO.

The ATO will then notify the SMSF that the member has lodged an election by sending a release authority to the fund. Once the release authority has been accepted and actioned, the fund must pay the liability to the ATO.

It is important to remember that if your SMSF releases funds prior to receiving a release authority, a contravention will occur, and you may be liable for penalties. If this has happened to you, contact your BDO advisor as soon as possible.

Did you know?

The latest data from the ATO has revealed that Australians have $17.8 billion in lost superannuation – are you one of them?

Lost superannuation refers to your superannuation accounts that have become inactive because you have not kept your details up to date, have changed jobs or moved addresses, you have multiple accounts across different funds, and you have yet to consolidate them. As a result, superannuation funds may lose contact with you, leading to unclaimed money sitting idle and slowly eroding due to fees.

Lost superannuation can have a significant impact on your retirement savings. With multiple accounts, you may unknowingly be paying unnecessary fees or insurance premiums, which erode your overall balance over time. By consolidating your superannuation, you can reduce fees, streamline your investments, and potentially grow your superannuation faster through compounding returns. Recovering lost superannuation can also boost your retirement income, ensuring more money is available when you need it during retirement.

The ATO plays a key role in managing lost superannuation. Superannuation funds are required to report inactive accounts to the ATO, and any lost or inactive accounts with a balance of less than $6,000 are transferred to the ATO. The ATO holds these balances until it is claimed or transferred to an active fund.

If you believe that you may have some lost superannuation, the easiest way to find out is via your MyGov account that is linked to the ATO Online Services. Take the following steps to see if you have any unclaimed super:

Log into myGov and select the ATO Online Services
Select ‘Super’ from the top menu
From here, you can select from several options:
- Fund details – check here for lost super accounts
- Manage and then transfer super to transfer this lost super to an eligible super account – or ask your fund to complete the transfer for you
- Manage and then transfer super to transfer ATO held super to an eligible super account
- Manage and then withdraw ATO-held super to have your super paid directly to you if the amount is less than $200 or you are over 65.

Your BDO Superannuation adviser can also assist in identifying any lost or unclaimed superannuation. Contact your adviser if you would like to discuss your lost accounts.

Q & A – Tenille Ireland

Tenille Ireland is a Director in our Superannuation team in Adelaide. She is passionate about assisting clients to maximise positive retirement outcomes and is recognised as a technical expert in this area. Paul Rafton, Superannuation National Leader, sat down with Tenille for a Q&A session.

Tenille, first of all, congratulations are in order – you were recently appointed as a Director in BDO Adelaide’s Superannuation team. This is a well-deserved appointment, and we are so pleased to have you as part of our leadership team in Superannuation.

Thank you Paul. I am deeply appreciative of my promotion and grateful for all the support I have received during my time at BDO.

I am proud to be part of the Superannuation team here at BDO and am looking forward to continuing to contribute to our success.

You have spent most of your career working in the superannuation industry and specialising in self-managed superannuation funds. What draws you to this area of specialisation?

I was initially drawn to the technical aspect of the SMSF specialisation for the challenge it presented in learning the specific rules and legislation and staying up-to-date with changes, as well as the opportunity it provided to become an expert in this area.

Over the years, it has become such a privilege to be a part of the SMSF community which is full of people that are just as passionate as I am. From the clients that I support through the lifecycle of their SMSF, to the staff I work and get to share my knowledge with, and the industry colleagues that I have had the pleasure of meeting and sharing our passion for this area of specialisation – I wouldn’t want to be doing anything else!

There have been some big changes in the SMSF industry during the course of your career. Is there one change in particular that stands out to you as having the most impact?

I think the implementation of the transfer balance cap (TBC) and total superannuation balance (TSB) in 2017 had a significant impact on the superannuation industry as a whole. The introduction of these caps impacted how clients plan for their retirement, through the TSB adding an additional cap restricting the ability to make some contributions into super and the TBC putting a lifetime limit on the total amount of superannuation benefits that can be transferred to pension phase for an individual.

It also had a substantial impact on superannuation administrators, adding greater complexity to the administration of self-managed superannuation funds in particular. There is a much greater need for precise tracking of member contribution and pension transactions and a need to ensure that a SMSF is considered as part of a broader strategy, where an individual has superannuation balances elsewhere.

A new lodgement requirement was also added for transfer balance account reporting which has reinforced just how important the reporting of accurate and timely data is and accelerated the need for SMSF administrators to review software, staffing, and internal procedures, to be prepared to move away from annual reporting for clients. As indexation gets added to these caps over the years, the system is only going to get more complex.

If you could give your clients one piece of advice when it comes to managing their SMSFs, what would it be?

The best piece of advice I could give to a client is to know your responsibilities as a trustee of a SMSF and know where you can go for professional advice and guidance to support you.

As the accountants and administrators for our clients, we can provide expert guidance to ensure that the fund stays compliant with the superannuation laws, along with financial advisers who can provide valuable advice to enhance a fund’s investment performance.

Ultimately though, it is the trustee’s responsibility to ensure they navigate the complexities of managing a SMSF.

Superannuation key lodgement dates

Deadline	Description
Payment of super guarantee contributions	28 days after each quarter ends e.g. SG contributions for the September 2024 quarter must be paid by 28 October 2024.
Lodgement of tax returns for newly established SMSFs	28 February 2025 (payment is also due on this date).
Lodgement of tax returns for SMSFs with income in excess of $2 million in the last income year lodged	31 March 2025 (payment is also due on this date).
Lodgement of all other SMSFs	15 May 2025 (payment is also due on this date).
Transfer Balance Account Reports (TBAR)	All SMSF’s are now required to lodge TBARs on a quarterly basis, regardless of the member’s Total Super Balance. These reports are due 28 days after each quarter ends, e.g. the September 2024 quarter TBARs are due for lodgement on 28 October 2024.

DISCLAIMER:

The information contained in this publication is purely factual in nature and does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. It is provided as an information service only and does not constitute financial product or other professional advice and should not be relied upon as such. Before making any investment or financial decisions you should consider your particular objectives, and financial circumstance or needs. Where information relates to a particular financial product you should obtain and consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and obtain advice from a financial adviser before making any decision. If you do require financial advice, please contact the relevant BDO member firms in Australia who will be able to assist you in their capacity as an Australian Financial Services licensee. BDO Australia Ltd and each BDO member firm in Australia, their partners and/or directors, employees and agents do not give any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of information contained in this publication nor do they accept or assume any liability or duty of care for any loss arising from any action taken or not taken by anyone in reliance on the information in this publication or for any decision based on it, except in so far as any liability under statute cannot be excluded.

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