BGL Corporate Solutions, Australia’s leading developer of SMSF administration and ASIC corporate compliance software solutions, would like the ATO to rethink the new super reporting requirements. We think they are draconian and can find nowhere in the new legislation where they are mandated.
The ATO wants you to report when every single one of your client’s start a pension, no matter what the member account balance. Even if the balance is $10,000 – you will still need to report it to the ATO. This reporting is required within 28 days after the end of the quarter in which the pension is commenced.
BGL is very concerned about the proposed new reporting requirements for superannuation funds. We think it is Big Brother gone mad.
Furthermore, the ATO wants you to report any change in a pension within 10 days of the end of the month in which the pension is changed.
The ATO is suggesting that come 1 July 2018, you may need to lodge a form every 14 days.
BGL thinks these reporting requirements are ridiculous and is also appalled that the professional bodies of the accounting profession have done nothing to support their members in opposing these draconian rules.
The ATO needs to review and change this!
BGL is reaching out to the broader SMSF and Accounting industry for support. For those professionals who share the same views, you can help by supporting our #telltheATO petition.
BGL’s #telltheATO campaign includes a petition to Kelly O’Dwyer, Minister for Revenue and Financial Services, and Chris Jordan, Commissioner of Taxation at causes.com.
“We, the undersigned, hereby call on the Assistant Treasurer and the Commissioner of Taxation to revise the draconian superannuation reporting requirements proposed by the ATO. The ATO wants every person in Australia with a superannuation pension to report the start of any pension and for any change in that pension”.
“This reporting applies if the pension balance is $50,000 or at the $1.6m pension cap. We think this is big brother gone mad. We think the only pensions that should be reported to the ATO are pensions where a member has a superannuation interest of $1.6m or greater. Furthermore, we demand the ATO adopt a single date for the reporting of pensions and pension changes. We think this reporting should be 28 days after the end of each quarter” signed BGL Corporate Solutions.
“I am very concerned how all these changes affect our clients” said Ron Lesh, BGL Managing Director. “The 2016/17 budget changes have already added a huge amount of work for our clients and a huge amount of cost to their clients – these reporting rules are simply going to make things worse”.
“Furthermore, it would appear the ATO is making up its own rules here,” says Lesh. “We have scoured the new legislation and regulations and cannot find anywhere where these reporting requirements are outlined.”
We encourage the SMSF and the accounting industry to stand up and voice your concerns. You can also support BGL’s petition on super reporting at causes.com.
It is time to #telltheATO enough is enough
How can you participate in #telltheATO campaign!
Step 1.
Sign and share the petition on causes(dot)com link can be found here > http://bit.ly/telltheATO
Step 2.
Get social and spread the word! Help us build awareness for #telltheATO petition through Twitter with #telltheATO, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Step 3.
Send a letter to your local member of parliament.
You can download a sample of our letter in our #telltheATO campaign flyer given out during our BGL RegTech conference around Australia.
Download #telltheATO Flyer
Relevant media coverage on this issue
BGL ramps up lobby efforts against new reporting rules
EXCLUSIVE: Xenophon set to escalate ATO downtime fight
ATO reveals penalties for real-time reporting failures
Pressure on ATO to fix portals saga
Labor calls for further action on ATO outages
‘Huge pressure’ for tax agents with new SMSF reporting