Does your Self Managed Superannuation Fund (SMSF) comply with Super Stream?
What is it?
Super Stream is the payment and provision of contribution data in an electronic standard format.
It requires all employers to make payment and provide details of the contribution payment and type, members name and their Tax File Number and the contribution amount to a SMSF via an electronic service address (ESA).
Super Stream offers the following benefits for SMSFs:
- more timely and reliable flow of payments and information about contributions;
- an electronic record to support the accounting and tax obligations;
- fewer data and payment errors.
What information is provided to the employer?
Generally, an employer will have already established a payment method for their employer contributions, via payroll or a super clearing house.
However, the employee will need to provide their employer with an ESA to facilitate the electronic data to the SMSF. The SMSF ABN and bank account details for receipt of contributions are also required to be supplied to the employer.
Where a SMSF is using the services of a software provider (for example BGL 360) upon instructions, the software provider can register the fund for an ESA via its preferred SMSF messaging provider.
Once the employer has updated its records for the ESA, the software provider will receive the electronic data relating to all future contributions made.
Alternatively, the SMSF member may select their own service provider from an approved ATO list. Note the software provider may not receive the ESA data from an approved alternative messaging provider.
Who is exempt from Super Stream?
The following SMSF’s are not required to comply with Super Stream:
- SMSF’s who do not receive employer contributions, for example, retired members and self employed members;
- SMSF’s whose only employer contributions are from a related-party employer. For example, if the member is an employee of a family business and the super guarantee contributions go to the SMSF, these contributions are exempt from the Super Stream regime.
SMSF’s that are exempt from Super Stream will continue to receive their contributions as they have previously.
Contributions in the form of personal contributions made by the member and rollovers are also excluded from Super Stream.
Although rollovers are currently exempt, it was legislated that SMSF’s from 30 November 2019 are required to use Super Stream for rollover to and from SMSF’s. This date has recently been pushed out to 31 March 2021.
What next?
We recommend all SMSF’s register for Super Stream to take advantage of the benefits.
If you would like to register your SMSF for an electronic service address, please call us on 03 9838 3055 to find out more.
Disclaimer
This information is for general information only and does not constitute financial advice or take into account your personal needs, objectives and financial situation. Before making any decisions, we recommend you seek professional advice.
August 2019 ~ Fabio Salvatore, Concise Super
© Concise Super 2019