Trustees of SMSFs can expect a new label in their annual return forms, which the ATO says should be available from the end of May.

After the Treasury Laws Amendment (2918 Superannuation Measures No 1) Bill 2019 became law in October 2019, the ATO reminded trustees that additional reporting requirements would be coming there way around non-arms length income and LRBAs.

The new label, called Property Count, will be added to section H, Assets and Liabilities. “This label will report the number of real properties your SMSF holds investments in, that were held in trust as security under a Limited Recourse Borrowing Arrangement,” the ATO said.

The ATO announcement also reminded trustees that from 1 July 2019, SMSFs can no longer claim a deduction for a tax saving amount paid on the death of a member. As a result, the Death Benefit Increase Deduction label will be removed from the new annual report form. “This change will ensure consistent treatment of lump sum death benefits across all super funds,” the regulator says.

Also flagged was that there will be a change to the auditor qualification question on the new form. “You will be able to report ‘no’ at Part A qualification Label A when the audit report was qualified as a result of the auditor not being able to obtain sufficient audit evidence with respect to the SMSF’s opening balances,” the ATO says. “Reporting whether issue/s have been rectified or not now applies to Part B qualifications only.”

In a seperate notice to trustees, the ATO announced that it will change the status of the SMSF on Super Fund Lookup (SFLU) to “Regulation details removed”. This status will remain until any overdue lodgments have been brought up to date.