Last month the ATO released a position paper outlining two potential options for reporting time frames for transfer balance account events.
SMSF Academy director Aaron Dunn reminded practitioners that the first proposal in the paper was to introduce a 10-day ordinary time frame for reporting events after the month in which they occurred with concessions for the commencement of income streams which would need to be reported 28 days after the end of the quarter.
The other proposal he said is to introduce quarterly reporting for a two-year transitional period before initiating monthly reporting requirements. The exceptions to this being compliance or non-compliance with a commutation authority that has been issued to an SMSF.
“This will ultimately allow the industry to reconsider the way in which their systems are structured to qualify and eventually comply with what those reporting time frames are,” explained Mr Dunn.
In a poll with 200 respondents from the industry, Mr Dunn said the feedback from the majority of respondents was that while the quarterly reporting was not ideal, it was “clearly better than the 10 days from the end of the month”.
“Whether the industry is going to be happy that there will only be a two or three-year transition period to move to 10 business days, that will be something contested quite heavily in regards to the feedback provided to the ATO,” he said.
