As the saying goes nothing lasts forever, this is so true with self-managed super funds (SMSF).
There is a long list of reasons why a SMSF should be closed. The most common ones we see are a trustee in the fund may have died or you have come to the point you don’t want the hassle of managing your own SMSF.
Notwithstanding the reason why you want to close your SMSF, there are various steps and people involved to close down a fund. We organise everything from the accountant, financial planner and lawyers. In the first instance try to work with the current accountant involved in running the fund or use one of preferred partners
(depending on the situation).
Once wound up, we will rollover funds into a retail fund and importantly have that ‘insurance chat’ .

Disadvantages

• Trustee responsibility
• Each trustee is individually and jointly responsible for the decisions and operation of the fund.
• Can be an Extra cost compared to a retail fund.
• Additional costs such as the auditing of accounts, ATO Levy’s etc
• If you have $200,000 or less, the costs can be relatively high

Penalties

• More First Time Offenders : law-breaking SMSF trustees will face penalties for the first time
• No Need For Court Any More: the ATO will penalise SMSF trustees without needing to go to court
• Personally Liable: You will be held personally liable
• Back To School : Know the ATO will send SMSF trustees back to ‘School’
• Bigger Penalty Rates : penalties for gaining illegal early access to super will increase