What is an SMSF certificate of compliance?

A certificate or notice of compliance verifies that your SMSF complies with superannuation laws and regulations. To register a fund as an SMSF, it must elect to be regulated by the ATO and be compliant to receive concessional tax treatment. After completing its checks and being satisfied with the information provided, the ATO issues a Notice of Compliance to an SMSF upon registration.

ATO Notice of Compliance

According to the ATO website, registration of an SMSF can take up to 56 days. However, employers and other parties can treat an SMSF as complying when the compliance status shows the fund as ‘Registered’. The fund will receive a Notice of Compliance within 7 days of the status changing to registered. The ATO Notice of Compliance is only issued when a fund is initially registered. The current status of an SMSF can be viewed on the ATO Super Fund Lookup site.

When we set up a new SMSF, we register the fund with the ATO and help you with any issues that may arise. We will also pass on the formal Certificate of Compliance when received from the ATO.

Hint – Employer contributions and rollovers may be delayed or even rejected if your SMSF’s status on Super Fund Lookup is not showing as ‘complying’.

When would I need a certificate of compliance from my SMSF?
There are a number of situations when you need a certificate of compliance from your SMSF, including:

• Starting a new job, as your new employer will want to verify that the fund is complying.
• Rolling or transferring your retail or industry super into your SMSF, or from another SMSF where the transferring fund must verify that the fund is complying which the transferring fund will do this electronically via SuperStream.
• Completing the ATO Superannuation standard choice form, directing your super to your SMSF.
• Opening up a bank account or other investment.
• Employers making contributions to an SMSF via SuperStream or a clearing house are often delayed, missed or redirected to a default fund if the fund’s status is not ‘complying’.

How can I provide evidence of my fund’s complying status?

You can print a copy of the fund’s compliance status from the Super Fund Lookup site. The printout includes the fund’s name, compliance status, whether it is an ATO-regulated SMSF, its ABN, date and contact address. Depending on your employer’s requirements, this is generally all they need to confirm your fund is compliant. An SMSF trustee can also provide a letter confirming the fund’s compliance status. However, if the fund’s regulatory details have been removed, you won’t be able to do this.

What does it mean if my SMSF regulatory details are removed?

If you lodge your annual SMSF return 2 weeks late, the ATO will remove your fund’s regulatory details from its Super Fund Lookup site, and your employer may not be able to contribute to your fund until the fund’s status is restored by lodging your outstanding returns. With PayDay super now in force, timing is critical, because an employer must make contributions at the same time wages are paid. Previously, employers were not required to make superannuation guarantee contributions (SG) payments until after the end of each quarter. In addition, rollovers may not be made until the fund’s status is restored.