“For us, we want to make sure that the temporary measures are well documented and clearly explained as to why they’ve done it,” Mr Keating said speaking at the LightYear Docs Virtual Strategy Summit.

“If that’s the case, we won’t consider them to have had any breaches, particularly in regard to the in-house asset provisions that would otherwise apply if there has been rental relief provided to a related party. We’re currently in the process of releasing a legislative instrument giving certainty about that going forward.”

Mr Keating said it’s important that any SMSFs providing rent relief ensure that the lease agreement reflects the changes and they have documented the rationale for their decision-making.

The legislative instrument will also provide details on what SMSFs need to do to ensure that loan relief provided by a related party will not be non-arm’s length income (NALI).

“When we look at an LRBA, we understand that there may be opportunities to provide loan relief in particular, so we are looking at the LRBAs where there has been a loan by a related party, and if the relief has been negotiated as a result of COVID-19, it must have similar terms to a commercial bank,” he explained.

“As long as they’re offering similar terms with what’s available in the commercial arena, we won’t consider that NALI is applicable.”