SMSF trustees that intend to claim a personal super contribution deduction will need to ensure they have supplied the SMSF trustee with a notice of intent to claim and obtain written acknowledgement from the SMSF trustee of the notice of intent before lodging their 2019 individual tax return, the ATO recently reminded trustees on its website.

The ATO said that if a member wishes to claim a tax deduction for personal contributions, they must have made the super contributions to an eligible super fund and given that fund a valid notice of intent to claim, or vary a deduction for personal super contributions from the earlier of the day they lodge the tax return for the year in which you made the contributions, or the end of the income year following the one in which they made the contributions.

Before this inclusion in the tax return, Ms Hutchinson said some trustees were claiming the tax deduction for the contribution but not letting the trustee know, which for SMSFs is obviously themselves.

“They were getting the benefit of claiming a tax deduction in their own name, but the fund was not paying the tax, so they were getting a double dip,” she said.

She also pointed out if SMSF clients are planning to make personal super contributions, claim a deduction for them and then start a pension straight away, then they need to get those forms in before the pension is started; otherwise, it will be invalid.

The ATO has previously said that a notice will be invalid if the person is no longer a member of an SMSF, the member no longer holds the contribution because of a partial rollover that included the contribution, or they have paid either a lump sum or started to pay a super income stream that includes a contribution.