How much does SMSF Australia charge for annual SMSF accounting?

SMSF Australia offers three fixed-fee annual packages: Basic Fund at $1,300+GST (listed shares, managed funds, ETFs, term deposits), Complex Fund at $1,600+GST (adds direct property up to 2, cryptocurrency, precious metals), and Very Complex Fund from $2,000+GST (unlisted assets, private loans, derivatives, NFTs, 3+ properties). All packages include the independent SMSF audit at no additional cost.

Is the SMSF audit included in the annual fee?

Yes. The independent SMSF audit is included in all three annual fee packages — Basic, Complex, and Very Complex. It is not charged as a separate add-on.

Can SMSF Australia service my fund if I am not in the same state?

Yes. SMSF Australia operates nationally across all Australian states and territories. All client meetings and services are conducted via Zoom — there is no requirement to be near a physical office.

How much does it cost to set up an SMSF with SMSF Australia?

The SMSF setup fee is $2,000+GST, which covers corporate trustee establishment (ASIC fee $636), SMSF trust deed ($400), Class Super first-year licence ($250), ABN and TFN applications, investment strategy preparation, and rollover coordination.

Does SMSF Australia provide financial advice?

No. SMSF Australia does not provide financial planning or investment advice. Services are limited to SMSF accounting, tax, audit, compliance, and legal matters.

Can I reduce tax by putting money into super?

Absolutely.

How can I reduce my personal tax?

There are many ways of saving tax by putting money into your self-managed super fund (SMSF).

Can I reduce tax by putting money into super An SMSF member can save tax by making the following contributions:

member concessional contributions
employer concessional contributions including salary sacrifice
capital gains tax cap election
non-concessional contributions
carry forward unused contributions cap
deferred contribution allocation also known as contribution reserving
spouse contributions

Member concessional contributions

You can reduce personal tax while boosting your self-managed super fund (SMSF) savings. Those on the 45% marginal tax rate can save up to 30%. Super contributions and earnings are taxed at 15%. For instance, a $1,000 contribution saves $450 in tax. After paying 15% contributions tax, net savings are $300. High wealth individuals with earnings over $250,000 (income and contributions exceeding $250,000) may face an extra 15% tax, reducing savings to $150.

Consider the following when making member concessional contributions:

do not exceed the concessional contribution cap of $32,500 from 1 July 2026 (includes employer contributions and salary sacrifice contributions) which was previously $30,000 per year for the 2025 and 2026 financial years.
pass a work test or be eligible to claim a work test exemption if you are between 67 and 74 years of age
under 18 you must have earned income as an employee or from your own business
you can claim super contributions up to the 28th day of the month following your 75th birthday i.e. a member turned 75 on 10 January 2024 and the member passes the work test and makes a member contribution on the 22^nd February 2024 which can be accepted by the SMSF trustee
provide your SMSF with a properly executed “notice of intent to claim a deduction” (NOI) and you must receive an acknowledgement from your SMSF trustee
to claim a tax deduction the trustee’s acknowledgement must be received by the SMSF member prior to the individual lodging their personal tax return or before the next 30^th June– whichever is the earliest

Hint – You can only claim a superannuation tax deduction if you have sufficient taxable income. A loss cannot be incurred due to claiming superannuation contributions i.e. where your taxable income is $10,000 your personal superannuation contribution cannot exceed $10,000.

Employer Concessional Contributions including Salary Sacrifice

If you have your own company making superannuation contributions to your SMSF your company receives a tax deduction of 30% or 25% if it qualifies as a small business. After allowing for the 15% contribution tax in your SMSF the net tax saving is a maximum of 15% equating to $150 tax saving for every $1,000 contribution made.

Individual employees can salary sacrifice part of their salary into super which allows them to pay less tax whilst building up more wealth in their SMSF.

Example – Fred is employed by BHP and is able to elect part of his $135,000 salary be paid as a superannuation contribution to his SMSF instead of being paid to him as salary. He elects $10,000 to be salary sacrificed. In the 2024/25 year the tax payable on $135,000 is $31,288 (excluding medicare). He will receive $125,000 and tax of $28,288 will apply. He saves tax of $3,000. He pays 15% contributions tax in his SMSF of $1,500. Thus, his net tax saving is $1,500. Also consider that money contributed to super is locked away until you meet a condition of release such as turning 65.

Carry Forward Unused Concessional Contributions Cap (CFUCCC)

Can I reduce tax by putting money into super An individual with a total superannuation balance of less than $500,000 at the 30th June from the previous financial year may be eligible to make extra concessional contributions above the concessional cap which is $32,500 from the 1st July 2026 (previously $30,000 for the 2025 and 2026 financial years). An eligible SMSF member is able to obtain a tax deduction personally in excess of their normal cap which is useful in a year where they have unexpected capital gain or other income. An SMSF member must:

have unused concessional contributions within the past five years
be eligible to make concessional contributions or have them made on their behalf

Example – John is eligible to make member concessional contributions in all of the following years.

Year	CCs made	TSB at 30^th June	CC Cap	unused CC	Unused CC cap Carried forward	Carry forward unused CC used within 5 years
	$	$	$	$	$
2019	25,000	325,000	25,000	Nil	Nil
2020	10,000	340,000	25,000	15,000	15,000	$4,500 in 2023;$10,500 in 2024
2021	25,000	365,000	25,000	Nil	15,000	N/A
2022	7,500	372,000	27,500	20,000	35,000	$20,000 in 2024
2023	32,000	420,000	27,500	Nil	30,500	N/A
2024	45,000	505,000	27,500	Nil	Nil	John could use his unused CC as his TSB at 30/6/23 was below $500,000
2025	6,000	520,000	30,000	24,000	Nil	John’s TSB exceeded $500,000 so he won’t be eligible to make additional CC above his CC Cap in 2025/26 year. If his TSB dips back below $500,000 he can access his unused CCs in the following year.

Capital Gain Tax Cap Election

An individual member or a related company or trust is able to disregard the capital proceeds from the disposal of assets qualifying for the small business 15-year exemption or the amount of capital gain is disregarded under the small business $500,000 retirement exemption and can contribute those amounts to their SMSF.

A SMSF member can elect to have a CGT small business contribution be assessed under their capital gain tax cap. A member has a lifetime cap which is $1,935,000 in the 2027 year. The cap is indexed annually. The advantage of electing to use the member’s cap is the contribution is treated as a non-concessional contribution but is not assessed against the member’s non-concessional cap allowing more monies to be put into super.

The tax provisions in relation to the CGT small business exemptions are complicated and advice should be sought from a professional tax agent.

Deferred contribution allocation (also known as contribution reserving)

It is possible to bring forward a tax deduction, allowing an SMSF member to claim a double tax deduction in the same financial year or a double deduction for a related employer company. Understanding when the contribution is allocated to a member’s contributions cap is essential. This strategy is typically a one-time approach. Usually, the contribution cap for the following year is already utilised, and the deferred contribution allocation becomes a rolling strategy if continuing to claim a concessional contribution annually.

The contribution must be made in June and held by the SMSF trustee as an unallocated contribution until it is allocated to the member’s account by the 28th of July in the following year. For tax purposes, the contribution is taxed in the SMSF in the year it is received, while a tax deduction can be claimed. Regarding the contribution caps, the relevant consideration is when it is allocated to a member’s account, not merely held by the fund.

Example – Jane made a large capital gain personally in the 2023/24 year. Her accountant confirmed she could claim a tax deduction if an eligible member concessional contribution of $55,000 was made to her super fund in June 2024. Jane has plenty of cash due to the recent disposal of her investment property. She transferred $27,500 (concessional contributions cap for 2023/24 year) to her SMSF bank account on the 14^th June 2024 which was a member concessional contribution. She transferred $27,500 on the 15^th June 2024 which was taken up in the fund’s financial statements as a liability “unallocated contribution” of $27,500 and an asset “pre-paid contributions tax” of $4,125. The fund must report $55,000 as assessable income and pay tax of $8,250 in the 2023/24 year. However, the unallocated contributions of $27,500 in the financial statements were not allocated to her in 2023/24. The contributions were allocated on 1^st July 2024 to Jane’s member account.

It is also crucial the member provides the SMSF trustee with an “intent to claim a deduction for super contributions” by the 30^th June 2024 and have the trustee acknowledge the intent immediately to ensure any pension establishment at the 1^st July 2024 or contribution splitting is not invalid due to the late recognition of the contributions.

It is important to obtain advice before implementing this strategy as there are a lot of variables to consider such as paperwork and timing to claim a member super contribution and trustee minutes as evidence of the receipt of the contribution and the allocation of the contribution as well as understanding the effect on your contribution caps and the timing of pension commencements and spouse super splitting.

Spouse Contributions

You can claim a tax offset up to $540 by making a maximum contribution of $3,000 on behalf of your spouse. The contribution is a non-concessional contribution in your spouse’s fund. To obtain the full rebate your spouse’s income must be less than $37,000. Further limitations include your spouse:

not exceeding their non-concessional contributions cap in the year the contribution is made
total super balance cannot exceed $1.9million (general transfer balance cap) at 30^th June 2024 where the contribution is made in the 2024/25 financial year
cannot be 75 years or older at the time the contribution is made

Hint-your spouse’s income includes assessable income, total reportable fringe benefits and total reportable employer super contributions.

Concessional Contributions Cap

Obtaining a tax deduction for making concessional contributions is subject to the concessional contributions cap. The maximum concessional contribution that can be made is $30,000 from 1 July 2024 (for the 2024/25 year). Concessional contributions are taxed in the fund at 15% and a tax deduction is allowed by the member’s employer or personally by the member. Often referred to as before tax contributions.

Concessional contributions include:

employer contributions
salary sacrifice contributions
SGC contributions
member concessional contributions (where the member claims a superannuation tax deduction)

The ATO will assess if concessional contributions are in excess of the contributions cap. The excess can be withdrawn from the fund after the ATO have sent the trustee a release authority.

Non Concessional Contributions Cap

Non-concessional contributions (NCC) are member contributions where a tax deduction has not been claimed. NCC made to a member’s SMSF are not taxed and are not taxed when withdrawn from the fund. There is no direct tax savings but the earnings on NCC are taxed at 15% or may even be less where the fund is in part pension mode. NCC which are part of a member’s death benefit are not taxed in the beneficiary’s hands even if the beneficiary is an adult child.

For the 2024/25 year, the maximum non-concessional contribution across all superannuation funds is $120,000. Members can make a NCC if their total super balance on June 30, 2024, is below $1.9 million (the general transfer balance cap). Additionally, members must be under 75 or make the contribution by the 28th day after turning 75.

Non- concessional contributions include:

member contributions where a tax deduction has not been claimed
inheritance from a family member
personal contribution from monies that have already been taxed i.e. personal savings, member’s wages (not salary sacrifice)
spouse contributions
downsizer contributions

Non-concessional contributions can be brought forward up to two years if you are eligible to do so. Age and your total super balance at 30^th June from the prior year will determine if you can bring forward non-concessional contributions.

The ATO will assess if non-concessional contributions are in excess of the contributions cap. The excess can be withdrawn from the fund after the ATO have sent the trustee a release authority.

Hint – A member who is eligible to make a non-concessional contribution (NCC) may do so until the 28th of the month following their 75th birthday. However, they are unable to utilise the bring-forward rule if they are 75 or older at any time during the financial year. For instance, a member turning 75 on 20th June 2024 can make an NCC of up to $120,000 by 28th July 2024, subject to their total super balance as of 30 June 2023 ($1.7million). They cannot use the bring-forward rule after 30th June 2024 since they are 75 during the entirety of the 2024/25 financial year.