Mid-tier firm finds gaping holes in trustee knowledge
A recent Bentleys survey found a significant portion of SMSF trustees, who are also business owners, are unaware of the rules and regulations that apply to their fund.
The survey of 300 owners of small to medium-sized businesses found 34 per cent of those who have SMSFs are not entirely across the rules and regulations that apply to their fund.
Speaking to SMSF Adviser, Bentleys WA manager for superannuation services Bradley Raw said he’s also concerned about the amount of trustees he is coming across who are treating SMSFs as a “set and forget” structure.
“We’re finding a lot of trustees see an SMSF as a set and forget. It does take time and knowledge to actually run your SMSF, you can’t leave it and hope that everything will run smoothly,” he said.
Mr Raw also said he’s finding a concerning number of trustees are not necessarily aware of the financial ramifications of non-compliance.
“[Often] they have no idea about the level of power the ATO has,” Mr Raw said.
“When they set up their SMSF they haven’t received appropriate advice or someone hasn’t explained what it means to have a SMSF,” Mr Raw said.
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