SMSF assets were now valued at $748 billion, or approximately a third of Australia’s $2.76 trillion super sector, according to the office’s statistics.

The data also looked at the ATO’s recent regulation performance, revealing that it had referred 145 auditors to ASIC over the past six years, with 51 of those having been referred in the 2019 financial year.

The office had also seen an upsurge in voluntary disclosures of breaches by super trustees, with 353 having come forward in the 2019 financial year compared to 246 in 2018 and 265 in 2017.

ATO assistant commissioner Dana Fleming said the office would continue to take its role as an SMSF regulator seriously.

“The importance of good governance in the SMSF sector cannot be underestimated. As the sole regulator of SMSFs, we are conscious of the significant responsibility of safeguarding 1.1 million Australians’ retirement savings,” Ms Fleming said.

“Our aim is to help trustees to be able to make informed decisions by understanding their responsibilities and, of course, where necessary we will take action to maintain the integrity of the SMSF sector for all other SMSF members.”