Matthew Richardson, SMSF manager for Accurium, said there have been some changes to the rules for self-assessing underpayment.
“If you don’t make the minimums, there are ways to try to still retain the exempt current pension income on a pension interest for various reasons,” he said.
“The requirements to apply to the commissioner if you didn’t pay the minimum pension amount in that income year include things like an honest mistake that resulted in a small underpayment, or there were matters outside of your control. Another example includes if the income stream was in the retirement phase, and the ECPI exemption would have continued if you had made the minimum payment.”
Individuals can also apply to the commissioner for an exemption if, when they became aware the minimum payment wasn’t made, they make a catch-up payment as soon as practicable in the current income year, or if they treated a payment made in the current income year as being made in that prior income year.
“You have to submit the application to the commissioner and the ATO will look at that situation and consider what’s happened, then decide whether to allow the fund to retain the exemption,” he said.
For those pensioners who are self-assessing, however, he said there have been some adjustments.
First, the underpayment has to be small, and the fund has to admit to all other conditions in the requirement. Importantly, the fund can not have applied for a previous exemption.
“A fund can self-assess the exemption when it has failed to meet the minimum pension requirements due to an honest mistake or matters beyond their control and the underpayment is only small in that it doesn’t exceed one-twelfth of the minimum annual payment,” Richardson said.
“If you do meet those requirements to self-assess, then, as you don’t have to submit anything to the ATO, you make the catch-up payment for that year and just continue as if you have met the exemption.”
However, he said there is one thing to note, that if applying for an actuary certificate, the catch up payment is effectively treated as occurring in the year where the minimum was not met.
“For ECPI purposes, you would want to see that pension payment on 30 June is effectively being treated as happening during that financial year and if you’re not self-assessing, you do have to apply to the ATO.”
“You would need to see from the ATO that approval from the commissioner which states the ATO is happy with the circumstances, and the fund can continue to claim the exemption on that pension interest for the year.”
