SMSF compliance updates, audit tips, and industry news from our specialist team.
Most SMSF crypto contraventions have nothing to do with the coins. Six ways a crypto investment trips the super laws: from the trust deed and the investment strategy to moving your own coins into the fund, staking income and paying a pension.
Crypto markets never close, but your financial report still has to pin every holding to one number on one day. What the ATO accepts as valuation evidence, what it does not, and the hard cases that force an auditor to flag the report.
Cold, hot or exchange-held: where your SMSF keeps its crypto changes the evidence your auditor needs. What proves existence and control of each, and why a balance screenshot is not enough.
Before an auditor looks at what your SMSF's crypto is worth, they have to establish the fund owns it. Here is what the ATO expects to see, and what your auditor will ask for.
The ATO says market-valuation breaches now make up over 12% of every contravention SMSF auditors report, roughly one in eight. The value is rarely the problem. The evidence behind it is. Here is what Reg 8.02B asks of trustees, and what a valuation file that clears the audit actually holds.
More than 93,000 SMSFs are behind on their annual returns, and the ATO has made lodgement its number-one priority for 2026. Here's what happens when a fund falls behind and why the 45-day audit rule means catching up is a now job, not a deadline job.
With the SMSF sector holding over $1 trillion, fraud is now a top-tier ATO enforcement focus. Here's how the scams work, the red flags to memorise, the free ATO alert system that acts as your tripwire, and exactly what to do if something looks wrong.
The ATO found 16,500 SMSFs reporting the same asset value for three years running 2014 then checked who fixed it. 80% updated their property valuations; only 48% touched unlisted trusts. With 30 June 2026 behind us, here is what reg 8.02B actually requires, what counts as evidence, and why gathering it now beats reconstructing it later.
Every self-managed super fund in Australia has to be audited each year by an independent, ASIC-registered SMSF auditor. It's easy to treat that as a box to tick. But the regulator is tightening the screws on auditors themselves — and if the person signing off your fund falls short, it's you, the trustee, who wears the consequences. Here's what's happening, why it matters for your fund, and how to make sure the auditor behind your annual report is one you can rely on.
Every SMSF must undergo an annual independent audit. Learn what's covered, key ATO deadlines, common pitfalls, and how to prepare for a smooth, compliant audit.