Ms Fleming said that the program is focused on identifying aggressive tax planning within the top 100 SMSFs by value of assets.

“The purpose of this program is to provide assurance to us, and the general population, that the high-value SMSFs have acquired their assets in compliance with the regulatory framework and are appropriately accessing the tax concessions offered by that environment,” Ms Fleming explained.

After completing the risk profiling, Ms Fleming said that the ATO will be taking a closer look at 35 per cent of these funds.

“The things that made us want to take a closer look at that 35 per cent are the use of limited recourse borrowing arrangements, particularly in conjunction with an excessive or rapid growth rate,” she said.

“In 10 per cent of funds in the past four years, we’ve seen an extraordinary rate of growth, which has usually been in connection with property development, acquisition of commercial properties from other entities from within the group or a revaluation of listed or unlisted shares.”

She also noted that the ATO identified 13 per cent that are linked to previous actions that have been taken, and said that the SMSF segment is collaborating very closely with the ATO’s private groups and individuals area.

“This is an ongoing investigation for us, but I can share that several have been referred to our private groups area for additional investigation. We are also reviewing several ourselves very closely,” she said.