Common Mistakes Often Made By SMSF Trustees That You Can Avoid

Involvement in an SMSF can put certain responsibilities in their trustees hands, and those who overlook important details or find themselves reported to the ATO for failing to fulfil those responsibilities may risk incurring financial, civil or criminal penalties.

As SMSFs often involve multiple members, the risk of non-compliance grows. You might be doing the right thing, but can you say the same thing about your fellow trustees?

That is why the role of the trustee should not be taken lightly as with greater control comes greater responsibility, should the administration of your SMSF go awry.

Make sure your retirement nest egg is protected by avoiding these common mistakes made by SMSF trustees.

Breaching The Sole Purpose Test
SMSFs must be maintained for the sole purpose of providing retirement benefits to your members (or for their dependents if a member dies before retirement). You will fail the test if a member gets any financial benefit through an investment, aside from increasing the return to your fund.
For example, a member’s personal use of a holiday house purchased by the fund, without making rental repayments, would breach the sole purpose test. The rules can become complex, which is why seeking professional advice may be wise. Trustees who breach the sole purpose test will lose their fund’s concessional tax treatment and could be liable for civil and criminal penalties.

Financial Assistance & Member Loans
Trustees can make the error of accessing their SMSF funds at will instead of following strict super laws. You cannot access your SMSF bank account to give financial assistance or loans to members or member’s’ relatives, improve your cash flow, repay debts or make personal investments. There have also been reports of withdrawals from SMSFs accidentally on mobile banking apps. Avoid ATO sanctions and keep your bank accounts separate to ensure no premature withdrawals are made from your SMSF account.

Failing To Lodge Paperwork On TIme
SMSF trustees must comply with demanding reporting and recordkeeping requirements. Your SMSF will have an annual audit. Failure to produce certain documents or make the deadline date will result in your SMSF being reported to the ATO. It is crucial to keep accurate records of all decisions and transactions should the ATO take an interest in your SMSF. A financial advisor may be helpful to take the stress out of keeping on top of your paperwork.

Not Planning For The Death Of Another Member
The death or illness of a member of your SMSF can have devastating effects on your retirement savings if you are not prepared. Dependency on one member to administrate the SMSF can destabilise the fund if they pass away. Ensure that responsibilities are evenly distributed, if necessary, and that there is a clear understanding of the processes of the SMSF.

Go further than taking out life insurance policies and take the following precautions:

  • Educate all of the members on the basic rules and strategies of your SMSF
  • Employ an accessible financial advisor to answer any questions you may have about it, and to ensure that you remain compliant.
  • Allow access to passwords and account numbers for all members
  • Regularly review your binding death benefit nominations 
  • Know the processes of your SMSF, and be aware of the responsibilities of the trustees.

A Business Plan Requires Structure – Here Are 5 Things You Should Be Including In Yours

When you are first setting up a business, understanding exactly what you are setting out to achieve can be a daunting task. But a business plan takes some of that stress away by helping to cement your business idea into achievable goals. It can be as simple as dot pointing your strategy on the back of an envelope, or a 30-page report of what your business is hoping to achieve. 

However, a formal business plan should consist of specific information that you can present to investors (or a bank, or just your spouse) as an indication of how your business will succeed. 

Your Concept

What is the point of the business? In this section, try to outline your plan succinctly.  You should discuss the industry that your business will be operating within, what structure your business will take, the product or service.

Actioning The Strategy

What goals do you have for your business? When and how will you reach your goals? Do you have a clear set of steps that you need to take to implement your strategy into being? 

Why Your Product?

What’s the competitive advantage of your product over the others in your field? Are you a solicitor who specialises in family law? Do you sell vintage merchandise for Aussie Rules football teams?

What niche does your business fulfil that your customers need? Provide solid information about your product to your readers and explain the reasoning behind why your customers will want to purchase your product, and not those of your competitors. 

The Market

Who are your target customers? What demographics do your customers primarily lie in? How will you attract and retain enough customers to make a profit? What methods will you use to capture your audience? What sets your business apart from the competition?

Answering these questions will assist you in planning out your marketing strategy and demonstrate to your investors that you understand how you will be targeting your customers.

Financial Needs

These will be based on your projected financial statements. These statements provide a model of how your ideas about the company, its markets and its strategies will play out.

Obviously, a report that outlines your business plan is probably preferable to a scrap of an envelope, but the main point to this is working through the business idea in a written form that you can take to your business strategists to formulate a more comprehensive and viable business plan that aligns with your goals. 

As you write your business plan, stick to facts instead of feelings, projections instead of hopes, and realistic expectations of profit instead of unrealistic dreams of wealth. Facts—checkable, demonstrable facts—will invest your plan with the most important component of all: credibility.

It’s time to start writing that business plan if: 

  • You have a new idea for a business and want to explore its feasibility
  • Your industry is undergoing significant changes and dramatic developments, and you want to map them out for your current business
  • You’re looking to sell your business and want to establish a value for it that can be supported by facts and figures.
  • You require financing for your business idea and want to plan out how you’ll expend the resources you’re committing. 

If you’re looking for assistance with planning for your business’s future, you can come speak with us. 

Common GST Mistakes That You Might Be Making In Your IAS

GST is an area that commonly has mistakes made in it – mistakes that can be costly and require additional measures to correct it if they aren’t caught in time.

Many small business owners continue to make errors when claiming GST credits in their GST returns or Business Activity Statements.

A vast majority of these errors are easily avoidable and often relate to the over-claiming of GST credits. Here are the top ten common GST mistakes that can be made (and what you might be encountering yourself). 

  • Residential rental property: Incorrectly claiming GST credits on expenses relating to residential rental properties where the entity is registered for GST.
  • Bank fees: Generally, annual fees, monthly fees and loan establishment fees are input-taxed, and therefore, there is no GST to claim. However, GST is charged on credit card merchants’ fees and can be claimed.
  • Private expenses: GST is not claimable on private expenses such as personal loans, director fees and drawings etc.
  • Interest: Interest paid on loan or chattel mortgage repayments or credit card payments does not incur GST, and cannot be claimed.
  • The total cost of a business insurance policy: Insurance policies usually include stamp duty (which is GST-free), however, the rest of the policy is subject to GST. A GST credit cannot be claimed on the stamp duty portion of the policy as no GST is paid.
  • Government fees: GST is not charged on government fees i.e. council rates, land tax, ASIC filing fees, motor vehicle registration and water rates, and therefore, GST credits cannot be claimed.
  • GST-free purchases: Incorrectly claiming GST credits on purchases without GST, such as basic food items, exports and certain health services is a common mistake. Remember not all suppliers are registered for GST, so check the tax invoice before claiming credit.
  • Entertainment expenses: Claiming the entire GST credits on entertainment expenses where the business has elected to use the 50/50 split method for fringe benefits tax is incorrect. Only 50 per cent of the GST credits can be claimed.
  • Wages and superannuation payments: Both wages and super do not attract GST and cannot be claimed. Wages are not an expense to be included in G11; they are to be reported in W1 in your BAS. Superannuation is not included in BAS.
  • Sole traders and partnerships: When claiming expenses that are used for both private and business use, you must apportion the expenditure to exclude private usage. 

If you find that a mistake was made on a previous activity statement, the ATO says you are able to:

  • correct the error on a later activity statement if the mistake fits the definition of a “GST error” and certain conditions are met;
  • lodge an amendment – the time limit for amending GST credits is 4 years starting from the day after the taxpayer was required to lodge the activity statement for the relevant period, or
  • contact the ATO for advice.

If you find this process is too time-consuming or too difficult to complete yourself, the best way to ensure that you remain compliant and avoid making these mistakes is to contact a registered BAS agent for assistance.