The Self-Managed Super Fund Professionals' Association of Australia (SPAA) will help the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) test a new self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) verification service set to be launched later this year.
The new ATO system is designed to cut red tape for superannuation funds regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) when processing member rollover requests, while providing SMSF trustees with more security.
Currently, member requests to roll over superannuation balances from an APRA-regulated fund to an SMSF could be cumbersome and time-consuming, SPAA chief executive Andrea Slattery told the association's technical conference in Sydney yesterday.
"We are delighted to be participating in the testing of the ATO verification service, which we believe will improve the speediness and efficiency of rollovers from APRA funds to SMSFs - something which SPAA has been advocating for some time."
Slattery said under the new verification service, it would be paramount for the ATO to be notified quickly of any SMSF membership changes.
"To minimise any disruptions, SPAA will be working with the ATO on measures which streamline this process and which may include the use of the telephone with appropriate proof of identity as a medium for advising changes to SMSF fund membership," she said.
At the conference, SPAA also launched an SMSF trustee education curriculum guide to encourage education providers and industry practitioners to create and provide SMSF trustee training.
The new curriculum seeks to raise education standards for SMSF trustees. Users of the education curriculum guide are likely to include universities and financial planning groups, which can use the guide to provide education to trustees or staff.
