The ATO’s SMSF Quarterly Statistical Report for June 2020 indicates that net establishments for SMSFs for the 2019–20 income year could be as high as 18,540, which would bring the total number of SMSFs to 593,375.
This was the highest number of net establishments since the 2015–16 income years when net establishments reached 19,325.
The ATO acknowledged that there can be a time lag between when the establishment or wind-up occurs and when it receives notification from the SMSF, and it anticipates that the number of both establishments and wind-ups will increase as more notifications are received.
The figure for 2019–20 represents a significant jump in net establishments from the prior financial year when net establishments stood at 4,694.
The September quarter saw the greatest number of establishments of SMSFs. 6,350 funds were set up while 625 funds were wound up. The March quarter also saw a significant number of establishments, with 5,621 funds established and 917 funds wound up.
The ATO statistics also estimate that there are around 1,107,268 SMSF members in total now.
Despite the government’s plans to increase the number of members allowed in an SMSF, the number of three and four-member funds has actually seen a slight decline.
In 2014–15, three and four-member funds made up 3.8 per cent and 4 per cent of total SMSFs, respectively.
In 2018–19, the percentage of three-member funds had fallen to 3.4 per cent while four-member funds fell to 3.6 per cent. This data was extracted on 14 August 2020.
Lets not get ahead of ourselves here. The first reports are always updated. The June 2020 data will not include wind ups yet to be reported to ATO. As lodgements of the 2020 returns occur, wind ups will increase. The initial June 2019 report had 2120 windups for the year – this has subsequently been updated to 15,677.
In June 2017 the ATO reported total SMSFs to be at 596,516. This has now been downgraded to 568,875. It takes time to get the numbers correct. Overall the SMSF market has flatlined. So the regulator appears to be winning its war against SMSFs