The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has indicated it will be amending its registration processes for self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) in a measure aimed at negating the early release of super schemes affecting the sector.
In particular, the regulator is looking to prevent SMSFs being used by these illegal schemes from being registered at all. This in turn will mean these funds will not be able to view on Super Funds Lookup, a service all superannuation funds use as a reference for requested benefit rollovers.
Furthermore, the ATO has warned that in situations where fraudulent SMSFs are identified those accounts will be frozen to stop people's retirement savings from being extracted from the retirement savings system.
In addition, the ATO is stepping up its cooperation with other regulatory bodies such as ASIC and the state and federal police forces to more effectively deal with fraudulent superannuation activities.
In the 2008/09 financial year the ATO suppressed in excess of 500 funds associated with fraudulent schemes. The regulator has also frozen over $1.6 million in assets in this time.
Currently, identification of SMSFs involved in illegal early access schemes has been achieved in part to an increase in referrals from large superannuation funds that have recognised such vehicles in the normal course of their operations.
To further improve the situation, the ATO is encouraging members of the public to report any approaches by promoters of early release schemes they may have received.
In the meantime, the regulator has advised trustees not to sign any documents from these promoters and immediately terminate any contact they are having with these individuals.
