“The ATO is coming across increased numbers of companies becoming deregistered because of a late payment of the ASIC annual fee,” he warned.

“We don’t want our clients getting caught up with this because it’s a world of pain to get it fixed.”

Mr Burgess explained that if the company does get deregistered because they were late paying the ASIC annual fee, the fund assets will vest with the Commonwealth.

Money held in the fund’s bank account also needs to be lodged with ASIC’s Unclaimed Monies Account by the fund’s financial institution. The trustee then needs to make a claim for money or property directly to ASIC.

“We’re seeing increased instances of this happening in SMSFs. We want to encourage SMSF clients to use corporate trustees but it’s important they ensure they’re paying these ASIC annual levies on time,” he cautioned.

“You don’t want to get caught up in this mess.”

SMSF clients should also ensure that their details are up to date so that notices aren’t sent to the wrong address, he added.

In a release issued last year, the ATO said that most of deregistrations initiated by ASIC are a result of the annual review notice being missed because the individual’s address details were not up to date.

The ATO warned trustees that the process of reinstating a corporate trustee can be a time consuming, costly and complicated matter to resolve.

“The former directors need to apply to ASIC for reinstatement of the corporate trustee. Any fund monies paid to ASIC will also need to be claimed back and paid into your SMSF,” said the ATO.