Relief for SMSFs in dodgy tax arrangements
The ATO has extended the deadline of its voluntary disclosure offer for taxpayers who have used their SMSFs in an effort to minimise or avoid their income tax obligations.
A voluntary disclosure service has been in place for SMSF trustees who used arrangements to divert personal services income to their SMSF.
The ATO outlined these types of arrangements in TA 2016/6 and announced it would be conducting a review into SMSFs who use these arrangements to minimise or avoid income tax obligations in April last year.
SMSF trustees originally had until 31 January 2017 to disclose these arrangements to the ATO in exchange for reduced penalties.
The due date to contact the ATO in relation to TA 2016/6 has now been extended by 3 months to 30 April 2017.
An ATO spokesperson told SMSF Adviser that the additional time has been provided because the ATO is aware there have been many superannuation changes since July 2016 including extensive superannuation reforms enacted in November 2016.
“SMSF trustees and advisors have been required to understand how those changes impact their funds and to address them,” the ATO stated.
The ATO also explained that SMSFs with LRBAs may have been focused on ensuring that their LRBAs are consistent with arm’s length dealing by 31 January 2017.
As people may not have had sufficient time to consider the voluntary disclosure offer for personal services income arrangements, we have extended the opportunity to contact us without facing administrative penalties.
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
