The ATO said it continues to take firm action against trustees who persistently fail to comply with their obligations, and warned the consequences for disqualified trustees include never being an SMSF trustee again and their name going on public record, as well as the details of the disqualification coming up in background checks which can affect their personal and professional reputation.

It said if a trustee has breached the superannuation laws, it recommends they rectify the contravention as soon as possible or they could be putting their retirement savings and fund's complying status at risk.

As the regulator of SMSFs, the ATO can disqualify an individual from being a trustee (or director of a corporate trustee) of an SMSF if they don't comply with the super laws, or the ATO is concerned about their suitability to be a trustee.

It urged trustees to also consider using the ATO’s SMSF early engagement and voluntary disclosure service and said if a trustee voluntarily discloses contraventions before the regulator commences an audit, it will take this into account when deciding what actions it needs to take.