Is Your SMSF Tax Return Overdue? What “Regulation Details Removed” Means
Have you searched for your SMSF on Super Fund Lookup and discovered the words:
“Regulation details removed”
Don’t ignore it.
If your SMSF Annual Return is overdue, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) can remove your fund’s regulation details from Super Fund Lookup.
This can have immediate practical consequences for your SMSF, including problems receiving rollovers and employer superannuation contributions.
The good news is that, in many cases, the solution starts with something relatively straightforward:
Getting your SMSF’s outstanding accounting, audit and tax returns brought up to date.
At SMSF Wizard, we specialise in SMSF accounting and compliance and can help trustees get overdue SMSFs back on track.
Why Has My SMSF’s Regulation Status Been Removed?
One of the most common reasons is an overdue SMSF Annual Return (SAR).
Every operating SMSF generally needs to lodge an SMSF Annual Return for each financial year.
The SMSF Annual Return isn’t simply an income tax return. It also reports important regulatory, member contribution and other information to the ATO.
Because of this, the ATO considers lodging the annual return to be one of an SMSF trustee’s fundamental compliance obligations.
If your SMSF’s annual return is more than two weeks overdue, the ATO can remove the fund’s regulation details from Super Fund Lookup.
The ATO generally updates affected funds to “Regulation details removed” on the first business day of the month.
So leaving an SMSF return sitting overdue isn’t something trustees should simply put off until next year.
What Does “Regulation Details Removed” Actually Mean?
This is an important distinction.
“Regulation details removed” does not necessarily mean the ATO has formally made your SMSF a non-complying superannuation fund.
However, it does mean there is a problem that needs attention.
Super Fund Lookup is used by employers, superannuation funds and other parties to verify information about superannuation funds.
When your SMSF’s regulation details have been removed, its status can therefore interfere with the normal operation of your fund.
Two of the biggest consequences are:
1. You May Not Be Able to Receive Rollovers
If you’re trying to transfer superannuation from an APRA-regulated super fund into your SMSF, an overdue SMSF return can become a major problem.
APRA-regulated funds will not be able to make a rollover to an SMSF where the regulation details have been removed.
That means you could have money sitting in another super fund that you’re unable to roll into your SMSF until the issue has been rectified.
2. Employer Contributions May Be Affected
The ATO recommends that employers do not make contributions to SMSFs displaying “Regulation details removed” because it isn’t clear from the public register whether the fund is complying and operating as required.
For SMSF members receiving employer superannuation contributions, this can create an obvious practical problem.
Why Does the ATO Take Overdue SMSF Returns So Seriously?
An SMSF receives significant tax concessions in exchange for operating within Australia’s superannuation regulatory system.
The ATO therefore needs visibility over what the fund is doing.
The SMSF Annual Return provides the ATO with important information about the fund, including its financial position, taxation obligations, member information and contributions.
Failing to lodge also means the ATO may not have current information demonstrating that the fund is meeting its obligations.
This is why an overdue SMSF Annual Return shouldn’t be treated in the same way as simply being late with some routine paperwork.
It’s a fundamental SMSF compliance obligation.
Is “Regulation Details Removed” the Same as Being a Non-Complying SMSF?
No.
This distinction is extremely important.
Seeing “Regulation details removed” on Super Fund Lookup does not, by itself, mean that your SMSF has formally been made non-complying.
A formal non-compliance outcome is significantly more serious and involves a different process.
However, continued failure to meet your SMSF’s obligations should not be ignored.
The ATO has specifically identified non-lodgment of SMSF Annual Returns as a compliance concern.
If you have one or more outstanding SMSF returns, the sensible approach is to deal with them before the problem becomes bigger.
Why Do SMSFs Fall Behind?
There are plenty of reasons.
Perhaps your previous accountant stopped responding.
Perhaps you’ve changed accountants and assumed the old accountant had lodged the return.
Maybe you’ve been waiting on documents.
Perhaps your SMSF owns property and you haven’t obtained the information or valuation required to complete the accounts.
Or perhaps life simply got busy and SMSF compliance kept getting pushed further down the list.
Whatever the reason, doing nothing generally won’t fix the problem.
If your SMSF is one, two or even several years behind, the first step is to determine exactly what is outstanding and what is required to bring the fund up to date.
What Should You Do if Your SMSF Says “Regulation Details Removed”?
If your SMSF’s regulation details have been removed because its annual returns are overdue, the priority is to bring the outstanding compliance work up to date as quickly as possible.
That will generally involve:
1. identifying each outstanding SMSF Annual Return;
2. obtaining the fund’s bank, investment, property and other financial information;
3. preparing the outstanding SMSF financial statements;
4. preparing the fund for its independent SMSF audit;
5. addressing any compliance issues identified during the process;
6. completing the independent SMSF audit; and
7. lodging the outstanding SMSF Annual Return or Returns.
Simply preparing the tax return isn’t enough.
An SMSF generally needs its annual financial statements and independent audit completed before the annual return can be properly lodged.
How Long Does It Take for the SMSF Status to Be Restored?
This is another important point.
The status doesn’t necessarily change immediately after an overdue return is lodged.
According to the ATO, once the overdue annual returns have been lodged, the fund’s regulation details are updated on the:
• first day of the month;
• 15th calendar day of the month; or
• first business day after those dates.
The updated status is then displayed on Super Fund Lookup the following day.
This means that if you’re urgently trying to receive a rollover or deal with employer contributions, waiting until the last minute to lodge the outstanding return can cause additional delays.
What if My SMSF Is Several Years Behind?
This is where specialist SMSF assistance can be particularly valuable.
Being several years behind doesn’t mean you should continue avoiding the issue.
It means you need a plan to fix it.
The first step is usually to establish:
• What years are outstanding?
• What records are available?
• Have the accounts been prepared for any of those years?
• Have any audits been completed?
• Are there outstanding ATO liabilities?
• Have there been transactions that could raise SMSF compliance issues?
Once we understand the position of the fund, we can determine what work is required to bring the outstanding years up to date.
Don’t Wait Until You Need to Make a Rollover
A common time trustees discover this problem is when they try to roll money into their SMSF.
Everything may appear ready to go.
The SMSF has a bank account.
The investments are ready.
The rollover request has been submitted.
Then the rollover is rejected because the SMSF’s status on Super Fund Lookup isn’t showing the required status.
That’s when an overdue return suddenly becomes urgent.
It is far better to fix the compliance problem before you need to use the fund.
Have You Changed SMSF Accountants?
If your SMSF has fallen behind because your previous accountant hasn’t completed the work, you don’t necessarily have to wait indefinitely.
You can change SMSF accountants.
At SMSF Wizard, SMSFs are our speciality.
We can review the current position of your fund, determine which returns are outstanding and assist with getting the accounting and compliance work moving again.
How SMSF Wizard Can Help
If your SMSF tax return:
• ATO correspondence relating to outstanding compliance
• Taking over from your existing SMSF accountant
Most importantly, we specialise in SMSFs.
Rather than continuing to worry about an overdue fund, find out exactly what needs to be done and get the process started.
Is Your SMSF Showing “Regulation Details Removed”?
If you’ve searched your SMSF on Super Fund Lookup and discovered that its regulation details have been removed, don’t leave the problem sitting there.
And if your SMSF Annual Return is already overdue, don’t wait until you’re trying to receive a rollover or employer contribution before doing something about it.
Let SMSF Wizard help get your SMSF back on track.
We specialise in SMSF accounting and compliance and can assist trustees with outstanding SMSF accounts, audits and annual returns.
Whether you’re one year behind or several years behind, we can review your SMSF and determine what needs to be done.
Your SMSF is your retirement fund. Keep its compliance up to date.
Contact SMSF Wizard today to discuss your overdue SMSF compliance is overdue or your fund is showing “Regulation details removed”, SMSF Wizard can assist with bringing your fund’s compliance up to date.
Depending on your circumstances, we can assist with:
• Outstanding SMSF financial statements
• SMSF Annual Returns
• SMSF audit coordination
• Multiple overdue financial years
• SMSFs holding property
• SMSF investment accounting
• Pension and member accounts.