The SMSF auditor number (SAN) misuse mailout will commence in early September, with the ATO hoping to identify instances of SMSF auditor details being incorrectly reported on SMSF annual returns (SARs).
The Tax Office has also tweaked its strategy in a bid to capture more instances of SAN abuse.
“This year, for the first time, instead of SMSF auditors receiving a list containing only funds they audited for the 2020 financial year, the list will also contain audits for other financial years where the audit date has been reported during the period 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021,” the ATO said.
“The lists will require SMSF auditors to confirm whether they conducted the audit. Where we have received an auditor contravention report (ACR) and/or an audit complete advice (ACA) for the corresponding financial year, we will remove these funds from the list.
“This change in strategy will improve our detection of SAN misuse.”
The ATO said SMSF auditors are therefore encouraged to check their lists carefully and report to them whether their SAN has been misreported. Additional information such as incorrect audit dates or funds that have been audited that do not appear on the list can be provided in the response.
“Even where the lists reveal no misreporting, auditors should still confirm this with us so we can be reassured that the funds in the list received an audit,” the ATO added.
This comes as the ATO had recently concluded its most successful mailout to approved SMSF auditors.
The responses have allowed the ATO to identify tax professionals who have submitted SARs possibly quoting incorrect SMSF auditor numbers and will need to review SMSF auditor numbers reported.
The deliberate misuse of SMSF auditor numbers had been identified as an ongoing area of concern with the ATO and the TPB, with 74 tax practitioners singled out last year over such misuse.
Auditors doing more of the ATOs administration. I for one won’t be completing the task.
That system won’t work when the trustee lodges the SAR rather than an accountant. The current system will catch those cases.
If a tax agent is lodging super returns not in accordance with the legislation, that is the ATO’s job to follow up.
I checked my audit engagement letter and no where did I agree to determine if an accounting practice was following the required lodgment procedure.
Really should have a system where when an auditor completes an audit they log the fund ABN and date signed off and the accountant won’t physically be able to lodge it unless details align. Or if they do lodge it incorrectly the data matching can automatically show up miss matches – this will pick up abuse of the system in real time or even just people who are accidentally doing the wrong thing. Guess that would make too much sense though
It seems so easy doesn’t it? No doubt the ATO will come up with another convoluted solution like the TBAR that can’t be lodged via our software system.