Miller Super Solutions founder Tim Miller said while both of the lodgement extensions for SMSF annual returns have certainly been very welcome by the industry, as it provided more time to deal with commutations and CGT relief, there are a few administrative traps that practitioners should be wary of.
“We all love a lodgement extension because it gives people more time to finalise everything from the previous year, however, it also means that it takes longer for people to get funds up to date,” said Mr Miller.
“So people may not have had adequate time and information to be able to make contribution decisions for the 2017/18 year, with the total super balance rules.”
Mr Miller said he can foresee issues with excess non-concessional contributions because some trustees will have inadvertently contributed amounts that are under the cap, but because of the total super balance they weren’t entitled to make those contributions in the first place.
“So I think it’s those sorts of administrative advice pieces, which are linked back to information from the end of a previous year and where you might not have that information till late into the next financial year, that can create problems.”
Minimum pension requirements are also an issue. Late completions may not give the trustee sufficient notice to draw that extra payment that may be required to ensure minimum pension has been withdrawn