ATO urges SMSFs to find an auditor sooner rather than later
The ATO is reminding SMSFs they need to appoint an approved SMSF auditor for each income year no later than 45 days before they need to lodge their SMSF annual return (SAR).
The regulator said an SMSF’s audit must be finalised before they lodge their SAR, as they’ll need some information from the audit report to complete the latter.
Trustees must ensure the correct auditor details are provided in the SAR, otherwise they or the fund may be penalised.
The ATO said an auditor will need to perform a financial and compliance audit of an SMSF’s operations before lodging.
It also stated that trustees should be aware that an audit is required even if no contributions or payments are made in the financial year.
An approved SMSF auditor must be registered with ASIC and will need to provide their SMSF auditor number (SAN) on an SMSF’s SAR.
Auditors must also be independent and shouldn’t audit a fund in which they hold any financial interest, or where they have a close personal or business relationship with members or trustees.
Additionally, an auditor must not work for a firm that provides a fund with other services such as certain accounting services, tax, super or financial planning advice.
The ATO warned that if a fund doesn’t meet the rules for operating an SMSF, the auditor may be required to report any contraventions to the ATO.
Approved SMSF auditors can be found on the ASIC website.
