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Matt Heighway

End of Year Planning for Your SMSF

With the end of the financial year approaching, it’s time to get your SMSF in order and perhaps avoid any unintended compliance issues.


Review the Investment Strategy


The Investment Strategy is one of the documents that is carefully reviewed by the auditor to comply with legislative requirements and ATO expectations. It should be reviewed regularly and updated as needed to ensure that it meets the needs of the members and the SMSF’s risk profile. Based on feedback from the ATO, the auditor is expecting to see a strategy that is tailored and specific to the SMSF, rather than a repeat of the legislation. They expect that the strategy will outline how the fund investments meet each member’s retirement objectives and goals and that it includes a detailed discussion of the selected investment assets that considers risk, return, liquidity, and diversification. This is particularly important if an SMSF has a single asset such as a property making up the majority of the fund’s assets or it holds other investments that may be considered risker or less liquid, for example properties held via limited recourse borrowing arrangement, unlisted shares and Cryptocurrency.


We have a template Investment Strategy available for Lifetime SMSF clients to make the update process easier.


Review Contributions


When reviewing contributions, it is important that you have all the information. The concessional contribution caps can be different for each member as some members may have access to carry forward contribution caps. The carry forward amount, however, is dependent on your Total Super Balance (TSB). This means all balances and not just your member’s balance in the SMSF. You can check that all your super is linked to your MyGov account so you can see what the ATO have recorded as your TSB. You should check with your personal Accountant to make sure that this balance is correct, particularly in relation to accounts held outside the SMSF.


Other aspects of contributions to consider:

  • If you are over 67 years of age and want to claim a personal tax deduction, have you met the work test?

  • Will contributions be received in the SMSF’s bank account by 30 June?

  • Have you paid any expenses on behalf of the SMSF such as accounting fees or property expenses?

Market Valuations & In-House Assets


You are now required to value SMSF assets annually. Ensure that you are getting up to date valuations as close to 30 June 2023 as you can for all investments, including property and collectables.


If the SMSF is carrying an In-house Asset you will need to review the estimated valuations of assets to see if there is any action required to keep the value of the in-house asset under the 5% limit as at 30 June. Be mindful that correcting a compliance breach relating to exceeding the 5% limit can be difficult and, in some circumstances, can only be fixed with the sale of the asset.


Cryptocurrency


Due to the high-risk nature of Cryptocurrency, SMSF Auditors are understandably nervous about getting the comfort they need to sign off the audit. If you have started investing in Crypto, you need to note the information that the the SMSF Auditor will want to see at audit time. This might include:


  • Updated Investment Strategy covering off specific risks

  • Wallets addresses

  • Screenshots of wallet at 30 June

  • Reconciled Tax reports

It is important that you are aware of what you need to do on or around the 30th June each year.


Pension Payments


A reminder that the 50% minimum still applies for year ended 30 June 2023. When reviewing pension payments, make sure that the minimum pension has been met or exceeded and received in your personal bank account on or before 30 June. Waiting until 30 June to make any required payments may be a costly mistake.


The reduction no longer applies from 1 July 2023 so it will be important to revisit periodic payment amounts, so you meet their 2024 minimum pension requirements.


Specialist Accounting for Australians with Self-Managed Super Funds (SMSF's). End-to-end SMSF Accounting completed and lodged on time, every time. Our SMSF services use market-leading technology and industry leading partners combined with old fashioned personal attention to deliver you best practice outcomes. You get the best of both worlds with Lifetime SMSF for an affordable monthly fee.

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