The statistics show “encouraging” compliance trends, AMP SMSF’s Peter Burgess told SMSF Adviser, with the number of SMSFs with reported breaches decreasing seven per cent since last year.

“However while the proportion of those breaches which relate to loans to members and the in-house asset rules remains high, currently around 40 per cent which equates to almost 9,000 reported breaches each year, there will always be some compliance criticism directed at the SMSF sector,” Mr Burgess said.

“The rules around related party transactions and SMSFs are notoriously complex so I think more work needs to be done from an education and advice perspective here. It’s also an area where advisers with a very good understanding of the rules can differentiate the advice they provide,” he added.

As SMSF Adviser reported last week, the statistics also show that SMSF assets held under LRBAs hit approximately $18 billion at the end of the September quarter.

This also represents a jump of $2.4 billion since the June 2015 quarter, for which the ATO estimated SMSF assets held under LRBAs sat at approximately $15.6 billion.