Mr Shorte said it’s important that SMSF trustees are aware of whether their fund needs to report on a quarterly or annual basis.

SMSFs that have any members with a total superannuation balance of $1 million or more on 30 June the year before the first member starts their first retirement-phase income stream, must report events affecting members’ transfer balances within 28 days after the end of the quarter in which the event occurs.

When all members of an SMSF have a total superannuation balance of less than $1 million, the SMSF can report this information at the same time as when its SMSF annual return (SAR) is due.

“It really has come to the time where it’s no longer a once a year [meeting] with your accountant or administrator; you’ve got to the talking to them quarterly and letting them know what you’ve done with the fund,” he said.

“I’ve seen a number of cases this year where people have taken money out in October or November, and they’re only telling their accountant now and the fund is over a $1million.”

With the ATO looking to move to a single reporting time frame for all SMSFs, which is expected to be on a quarterly basis, it will be even more critical for SMSF trustees to get in touch with their accountant more often, said Mr Shorte.

The ATO is still making some final decisions on the new framework for transfer balance account reporting but confirmed it would not make any changes in the coming financial year.