July 2023 changes approach for TBAR regime

From 1 July 2023, all SMSFs required to report transfer balance account events will be considered quarterly reporters. This will also capture all reportable events that may have occurred in the 2022/23 financial year. In effect, all reportable events from 1 July 2022 – 30 September 2023 will have a reporting date of 28 October 2023.

There will be no grandfathering of the old rules. Funds that were previously identified as annual reporters will now be quarterly reporters from 1 July 2023 and will need to consider the above-mentioned reporting date for events that have, or will occur this financial year.

Existing quarterly reporters do not receive an extension to lodge and will still need to report events from the 2022/23 financial year on a quarterly basis.

There will continue to be some instances where reporting must occur earlier:

• Commutations resulting from a member voluntarily responding to an excess determination are to be reported within 10 business days after the end of the month in which the event occurs.
• Commutations required due to the receipt of a commutation authority from the ATO must be reporting within 60 days of the authority being issued.

For those that still have their financial accounts processed on an annual basis, this may require a rethink in how they deal with their accountant/administrator. As these professionals often assist with lodging the Transfer Balance Account Reports (TBAR), it is essential for them to stay updated on any events in a more timely manner.

Although I am a personal fan of having accounts/transactions processed on a more regular basis, I appreciate that this is not for everybody. The need to report events does not necessarily require accounts to be up to date, although it is preferred.

Estimated values of the event can be lodged, with more accurate information reported via an amendment at a later date. However, this creates inefficiencies as the reporting mechanism is often linked to the software in which the transactions are processed. Having to create ‘dummy entries’ in order to lodge a TBAR will result in double handling and increase the chances of errors.

To read more about identifying when an event occurs, late lodgment penalties and difference in reporting to APRA funds, find my full article here.

Or listen to the podcast version here.

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Author: Anthony Cullen, Senior SMSF Technical Specialist, SuperConcepts