Note: Every year, the ATO publishes the top compliance mistakes made by SMSF
The ATO has published the top 10 compliance mistakes that SMSF trustees make when running their self-managed super funds. The list below is based on the general type of contraventions reported by SMSF auditors (
| Types of contraventions reported to the ATO (up to 30 June 2011) | ||
| Contravention types | Number (%) | Value (%) |
| Loan to member/financial assistance | 20.6% | 14.6% |
| Administrative contraventions | 13.0% | 1.8% |
| 17.7% | 26.7% | |
| Separation of assets | 13.2% | 27.3% |
| Operating standard contraventions | 8.3% | 6.8% |
| Sole purpose | 7.7% | 6.5% |
| Borrowing | 7.9% | 5.9% |
| Investment at arms length | 7.3% | 7.5% |
| Other | 2.7% | 0.6% |
| Acquisition of assets from related parties | 1.5% | 2.4% |
| Total | 100% | 100% |
Note: The column titled ‘number %’ means the percentage of contravention reports that involved this particular type of breach, while the column titled ‘value %’ relates to the value of assets involved in this particular type of breach.
Source: Page 36 of Self-managed superannuation funds: A statistical overview 2009–10
For an explanation of the rules mentioned in the top 10 list above, you can refer to Trish Power’s book
What are the best investments for a SMSF to invest to avert becoming an ATO statistic?