As part of the most recent mailout, the ATO also asked SMSF auditors to cross-check the date the audit report was completed for each audit to identify where practitioners have lodged returns before the completion of the audit report.

In an online update, the ATO said it has now received a response from 41.38 per cent of the auditors it contacted.

“A total of 190 auditors found one or more funds in their client list which they did not complete an audit on, resulting in 703 instances of SAN misuse involving 357 tax agents,” the ATO said.

“These 703 instances of SAN misuse will now be investigated to determine whether the reporting was inadvertent or deliberate.”

The ATO also received advice of 8,316 audit date changes. Most of these, it said, have been administrative errors and very few have been after the date of lodgement.

“We are also concerned about the significant number of audit date changes reported by auditors,” the Tax Office said.

“SMSF annual return preparers must exercise more care when completing SMSF auditor details to avoid making errors.”

The response rate for the 2019 SAR, the ATO said, has already been higher than the 2018 mailout.

“Compared to the 2018 mailout, while the instances of SAN misuse have declined, more auditors have reported the incorrect reporting of their details, involving an increased number of tax agents,” it said.

SMSF auditors who have not yet had the chance to respond still have time to do so, the ATO said.

“We would like to hear from you even if no instances of SAN misuse have occurred,” it said.