From 1 October 2021, SMSFs are required to transact in the Superannuation data and payment standard (the SuperStream standards) for rollovers. This means individuals will need to use SuperStream to process rollovers (other than in-specie rollovers) to or from the SMSF.

To minimise delays when rolling super to or from an SMSF, the ATO said that funds must ensure the SMSF details provided to the transferring fund match the details it holds.

SMSFs also need to ensure the member details, such as a surname, held by the transferring fund match those of the receiving fund. Sometimes these need to be updated with the transferring fund prior to requesting a rollover.

“When rolling super out of the SMSF, be aware your financial institution may have a daily limit on the amount that can be transferred which may impact the amount being rolled out,” the ATO said.

“You will need to confirm this with your financial institution before initiating the rollover and then determine if you need to increase the transfer limit with them, change the rollover amount to an amount below your limit and repeat as required along with changing to a different financial institution.”

The ATO noted that the transferring fund might request further information such as proof of identity (POI) documents and bank account details for fraud prevention reasons.

“If they do, they must request this information within five business days of receiving your request, and then complete that rollover within three business days of receiving the information,” the ATO explained.

“When transferring super from an APRA fund to an SMSF, contact your APRA fund to discuss your specific POI requirements and submit the documents in a timely manner.

“Use the Fund Validation Service to obtain the APRA fund’s current banking details.”

The ATO also warned that SMSFs should not submit multiple rollover requests when there is a delay.

SMSFs should make sure it is ready to roll over the amounts before submitting the request, such as confirming that the SMSF has sufficient liquid assets.

“Ensure the ESA of your SMSF provides rollover services, as not all ESAs can be used to process a rollover,” the ATO added.

“When rolling out of your SMSF, ensure the payment reference number (PRN) on the message and payment match and send the message and payment to the receiving fund at the same. 

Tips on dealing with release authorities 

A release authority (RA) is a document the ATO gives to a fund to authorise the release of their member’s super.

Upon receipt of an electronic RA, the ATO noted the SMSF must, within 10 business days from the date of release authority, electronically pay the ATO the lesser of the amount stated in the release authority, or the total amount of the super interest that could be paid at that time.

“The SMSF must then send the ATO a release authority statement (RAS) message via SuperStream advising the amount that was released and for partial releases, whether any super benefits remain in the account,” the ATO explained.

“Funds should also send the ATO a release authority error message (RAER) via SuperStream if the SMSF is unable to action the release authority.”

To effectively manage the RA process, the ATO said that the RAS must be returned via the same channel the RA was received.

“Send one response for each RA (either RAS or RAER),” the ATO explained. “Each RAS message must be accompanied by one payment – do not send a bulk payment for multiple RAS messages."

“Funds need to make the payment to the SuperStream bank account and ensure the PRN of the payment matches the PRN advised within the RAS message.”