NTAA clarifies misunderstanding on reporting changes for SMSFs

“On this basis, some advisers believe that pension events that occurred before 1 July 2023 can continue to be reported to the ATO when a fund’s annual tax return is due to be lodged for the 2023 income year,” he said.

“However, the ATO’s guidelines make it clear that the quarterly reporting timeframe from 1 July 2023 for SMSFs that were able to report pension events annually, also applies to pension events that occurred before 1 July 2023 which have not yet been reported to the ATO.

“What this means is that all reportable pension events that occurred up to 30 September 2023 (including pension events that occurred in the 2023 income year), which have not yet been reported by these SMSFs, must be reported to the ATO by 28 October 2023.”

“Therefore, these SMSFs should work towards identifying any unreported pension events in the 2023 income year as soon as possible, so that these events (together with any events occurring between 1 July and 30 September 2023) are reported to the ATO by 28 October 2023.”

The ATO’s event-based reporting rules for SMSFs require funds to report most events affecting a fund member’s transfer balance account or pension events to the ATO.

The more common pension events include the commencement of a pension and the commutation of a pension.

Prior to 1 July 2023, SMSFs with all individual member balances below $1 million were generally able to report most pension events to the ATO annually – by the time a fund’s annual tax return had to be lodged.

All other SMSFs had to report most pension events to the ATO quarterly or within 28 days after the end of the quarter in which the event occurred.