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Accountants need to be aware of new SMSF rules
New regulations and obligations for self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs), that took effect at the start of the new financial year, may put trustees and accountants at risk and result in hefty fines if they are not compliant, according to Crowe Horwath.
Crowe Horwath senior tax consultant, Samantha Comer, warned that all "corner store accountants" need to be properly licenced and fully understand the new regulations in order to continue providing their services.
The same applied to mum and dad investors who were expected to be heavily affected if they did not raise the awareness and comply with the new regulations.
"Even corner store accountants now need to be adequately licensed in order to provide SMSF advice and services, many of which are not," she said.
"They have probably been giving SMSF advice for a long time, and will likely keep giving this advice, even though they no longer have the adequate licensing to do so."
Comer added that the new SMSF regulations also included the changes to the insurance rules for SMSFs, which came into play for the 2014/15 year, and yet the lack of awareness of these changes would put SMSF trustees at risk of facing fines up to $10,800 per trustee.
Among other changes to the SMSF rules, she also mentioned the proposed capping of super fund pension balances eligible for accessing the exemption from income tax and the retrospective changes to the non-concessional contribution cap which altogether would confuse the SMSF owners even more.
According to Comer, individuals utilising corporate trustees would potentially face lesser fines than those who acted as individual trustees, which could significantly impact mum and dad SMSF owners.
"Of greatest concern however are the new regulations and how they impact existing SMSFs and the widespread lack of proper certification of corner store accountants, ultimately leaving the trustee — meaning the fund owners — at risk," she added.
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