This week, the ATO has released Superannuation Data and Payment Standards (Release Authorities and SMSF Rollovers) Amendment 2020, which applies to trustees of regulated superannuation funds and approved deposit funds that are required to comply with the Superannuation Data and Payment Standards 2012 (F2016C01040) registered on 9 December 2016.
It will require trustees of SMSFs to comply with the Superannuation Data and Payment Standards 2012 in relation to rollovers and transfers that are requested on or after 31 March 2021.
The Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Amendment Regulation 2012 was first registered in 2012 and specifies the minimum requirements for dealing with payments and information relating to certain transactions within the superannuation system, including rollovers and transfers between APRA-regulated superannuation entities and certain payments by the Commissioner of Taxation.
In order to comply with the obligations in Part 3B of the SISA, trustees must deal with payments and information in the manner specified in the Data and Payment Standards.
Currently, rollovers and transfers of superannuation to and from SMSFs, and release authority requests issued by the Commissioner of Taxation under Division 131 of Schedule 1 to the TAA, are excluded from the Data and Payment Standards.
On 27 April 2018, the government announced that the Data and Payment Standards would be extended to include rollovers and transfers of superannuation money to and from SMSFs, the explanatory material explains.
“This change will require APRA-regulated superannuation entities and SMSFs to send and receive rollover information and payments using the SuperStream framework. This amendment will apply to rollovers and transfers, to and from SMSFs, requested on and after 31 March 2021,” the explanatory material states.
“Further, as part of the 2019–20 budget, it was announced that electronic release authorities issued by the Commissioner of Taxation would also be brought into the SuperStream framework. This change will allow the Commissioner of Taxation to electronically issue release authorities contained in Division 131 of Schedule 1 to the TAA.”
This amendment, it said, will apply to release authorities issued by the Commissioner of Taxation on and after 31 March 2021.
The draft determination and explanatory material noted that the SMSF standard will not apply to trustees of SMSFs in relation to payments or information required under the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Act 1999 and an APRA-regulated superannuation entity in relation to a closed product.
It will also not apply to the rollover or transfer from a regulated superannuation fund or approved deposit fund if, when the transaction occurs, the superannuation entity becomes non-complying.
The ATO is currently consulting on the draft determination until early January and invites comments on the draft determination and accompanying draft explanatory statement.
Many SMSFs don’t operate via platforms in the online space. Hopefully the ATO will make this available via the portal, or have forms which can then be used via ESA services rather than forcing funds to change their record keeping system for the sake of a handful of transactions.