Winding up your SMSF? Avoid hiccups with these tips

Winding up your SMSF isn’t just about lodging a final SMSF annual return (SAR), it’s about making sure you follow the correct process to avoid annoying delays and costly errors.

Once you’ve decided to wind up your SMSF, follow these tips:

• Use this Winding up SMSF checklist for step-by-step instructions to make sure you get it right the first time
• You should roll over most of your SMSF’s assets to another fund before you lodge your final SAR. A second rollover should occur after lodgement once any tax debt is paid, or refund is received.
  • Don’t try to avoid doing two rollovers by waiting until after you have lodged your SAR — this often leads to running out of time, resulting in an auto wind-up and the inability to rollover using SuperStream.
• Remember, after lodging your final SAR, you only have 28 days to complete a final rollover before the fund is officially wound up. Failure to roll out all member benefits within 28 days of lodging the fund final SAR could result in:
  • significant delays in winding up the fund
  • inability to use SuperStream
  • the requirement for an additional SAR to be lodged as the fund continued to hold assets post the wind-up date.

For more information, see the ATO’s publication Winding up a self-managed super fund lifecycle.