The ATO said as the regulator of SMSFs, it can disqualify an individual from being a trustee (or director of a corporate trustee) of an SMSF if they don’t comply with the super laws, or it is concerned about their suitability to be a trustee.
As a result of an increased compliance focus, a total of 588 disqualified trustees have been added to the register for the first three quarters of the 2022–23 financial year.
This is a significant increase when compared to the last financial year when 251 disqualified trustees were added to the register.
A disqualified trustee must remove themselves from the position of trustee as it is an offence if they continue to act as trustee of their SMSF. They are also unable to set up a new fund.
The information on the disqualified trustees register is publicly available and includes the individual’s name, location, date of disqualification and details of the formal notice of disqualification that was published in the Commonwealth Government Gazette. This means SMSF auditors and other professionals can check to see if a trustee has been disqualified.
