With the ATO confirming that SMSF trustees who previously answered ‘no’ to the CGT relief in their 2016-17 SMSF annual return can amend it before the lodgement due date, SMSF practitioners, he said, may want to review returns for any new clients or returns where CGT relief hasn’t been looked at carefully.

“We’ve taken over some accounting jobs from other practices where they haven’t implemented the CGT relief for 2017, and now staff have identified that the CGT relief could have been applied,” said Mr Itaoui. 

“We’ve been able to go back and have those tax returns amended and have those elections made to create a better outcome for the client.”

Mr Itaoui noted, however, that where CGT relief has been applied, but it was applied incorrectly, this cannot be amended as it’s an irrevocable election.

“Once you actually lodge that election you can’t go back and change it, so if they have lodged the election, it’s done,” he cautioned.

He also said that while the number of errors with the CGT relief has been falling in recent months, around one in every five funds still tends to have an error.

“Some of the errors are small, some are more significant.

“The main areas where we’re seeing the problems are the timing of when the CGT relief applies and also completing the tax return and the deferral amounts,” he said.