To establish your fund, assets must be set aside for the benefit of members. A nominal amount (for example, $10) can be held with the trust deed until the fund is registered.
Once your fund is established and all trustees have signed a trustee declaration, you have 60 days to register in the tax and super systems.
You do this by applying for an Australian Business Number (ABN) at the Australian Business Register.
Apply fon an ABN
When completing the ABN application you should also:
- ask for a tax file number (TFN) for your fund
- elect for your fund to be an ATO-regulated SMSF. If you don’t, your fund will not receive tax concessions and the members’ employers can’t claim deductions for contributions.
When your fund can start receiving rollovers and contributions
Your fund’s details will be included in ABN lookupExternal Link and Super Fund LookupExternal Link. Other super funds will not transfer benefits to your fund until its details appear in Super Fund Lookup, which may take up to seven days.
Initially your fund’s status will be shown as ‘Registered – status not determined’. An SMSF with this status is treated as complying and is eligible to receive rollovers and contributions.
Registering for GST
Most SMSFs don’t have to register for GST because SMSFs mainly make input-taxed sales, and these don’t count towards GST turnover.
SMSFs with an annual GST turnover of more than $75,000 must register for GST. Annual GST turnover does not include:
- contributions
- interest and dividends
- residential rent or income generated outside Australia.
It does include gross income from the lease of equipment or commercial property.
Leave a Comment