Commenting further, Subramaniam describes the current situation regarding responsibility for compliance as the grey or ‘fuzzy’ area of managing an SMSF.  “The trustee maintains it is the role of the adviser whilst the adviser believes it’s the function of the trustee.  With hefty ATO tax penalties of up to 47% plus the Medicare levy on the total value of the SMSF, it is an immensely important area that demands clarity and certainty for investors”.

Currently, in stalemates between the administrator, adviser and trustee, the problem ends up with the administrator to address at the administrator’s cost.

Whilst there are many advantages and benefits of an SMSF, they can be quite complex and the onerous nature of the administration process requires specialist service providers such as ASC to ensure that all legal and compliance requirements are strictly adhered to.

However, the ATO and the specialist service providers continue to find non-compliance in areas beyond the norm where SMSF trustees have failed to maintain assets separately from their personal assets.  In some cases assets were not in the name of the fund but in the name of one of the trustees, exposing the asset to loss if the trustee were declared bankrupt or their business went into receivership.

Subramaniam continued, “Currently there is no requirement to disclose who is responsible for the SMSF compliance as ultimately it all falls into the lap of the trustees as per the regulations – but herein is the problem.  Each SMSF trustee is different and there is no consistency in whom they use as their service providers i.e. investment adviser, financial planner, accountant or administrator”.

“Although there are specialist providers such as ASC, the bulk (perhaps as many as 80%) of trustees use their accountants to service their SMSF obligations and this mainly entails a once a year catch up to have the financials audited and an annual ATO return lodged”.

Subramaniam further asks, “How can compliance and the regulatory requirements be addressed with such a rudimentary and modest level of attention?”

With more and more regulations being passed the administrative process associated with compliance has become the most challenging area for the industry and it is not being helped by advisers and trustees brushing this away and placing the burden onto the administrator service providers.

Over its 20 year history, ASC has invested significantly in technology and is able to provide dedicated ‘real time’ SMSF administration and compliance services which encompasses an online portfolio monitoring and reporting facility for trustees and members of self managed superannuation funds.

The ASC iComply model has proven to be an effective gate keeper and ensures trustees take compliance seriously by informing the trustees and advisers of what can and cannot be a complying transaction whilst ensuring all supporting compliance work and documents have been done.

The ASC team take great pride in providing check lists to ensure any transaction is compliant – including processes to ensure the annual requirements etc are met to maintain compliance.

Subramanian also highlighted the top 4 areas of difficulty for compliance –

1. Related Party Transactions and the complexity of SIS Part 8 associate rules – some transactions may require independent legal opinion to ascertain if Part 8 has been breached
2. LRBA – do not put the cart before the horse and instead have the bare trust in place before any transactions are entered into, etc.
3. Private Unit Trusts
4. Collectables

Although very confident about the future of SMSFs, Subramaniam believes that many advisers are still not conversant with compliance issues.  In his experience the advisers that have the best handle are the dedicated practitioners supported by specialist qualifications such as SSA from SPAA.

“SMSF administration and compliance is an area that demands many years of experience in order to provide this service and facility competently. ASC is determined to maintain its technological edge and position as an industry leader through a steadfast commitment to integrity, professionalism, technology and innovation,” concluded Ravi Subramaniam.

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