2024 EOFY Planning & Re-engagement for 2025

Firstly, thank you so much for your help and patience as our team has worked hard getting all our new SMSFs across the ATO deadlines. You may be interested to know that it is not just our company that has experienced a HUGE increase in the number of new SMSFs, but the ATO has reported that SMSF establishments have skyrocketed in the last few years. 

We are delighted to report that we have boosted our team with some wonderful new, experienced and talented accountants and expect next year to be a much smoother ride.  

• Great news! We are NOT increasing fees for 2025 FY; so your fees will be the same as 2024FY
• And we will use the same ongoing monthly payment arrangement and engagement process we had in 2024FY
• To remind, we divide your annual fee by 12 and debit it monthly from your SMSF bank account
• Why do you need to approve our engagement proposal again? It’s simply a legal requirement. Sorry about the extra paperwork. 
• Please make sure you review and approve the proposal before July to avoid catchup payments
• So thank you for reviewing and approving our 2025FY engagement renewal that you will see now, or very soon in your email in box. 
• Please check your junk/spam inbox, and then if you find you haven’t received one, please call 1300 333 121 and ask for Harry

• If your SMSF has gold/silver, make sure you buy a newspaper on 30 June or 1 July, lay out all your SMSF ONLY gold/silver on the newspaper so that the newspaper date and all the gold/silver markings (weight, quality, manufacturer) are shown clearly, and take a GOOD clear photo
• If you have a LOT, and it won’t all fit within one photo, lay it all out on a table and take a continuous video, and then a series of photos showing as much as you can 
• If you have personal gold/silver please DO NOT send us those photos
• Then either wait for your designated accountant to email you with a list of required information to complete the 2024 financials annual return
• Or if you’re keen, email them through to your accountant earlier
• What will you need to send in? Start by reading page 26 of our FAQs document online here 
   

• There are lots of different types of contributions you can make, have a look at this video here
• If you’re planning on making contributions before 30 June, contact your accountant if you’re unsure of your caps.

• If you are over 60, and can meet the conditions of retirement, it can be beneficial to put your fund into pension mode
• The benefit is that all the income from the investments can be tax free
• If you want to know more about this, ask your accountant
• If you are already in pension mode, make sure you have withdrawn the minimum amount required; if you’re not sure, contact your accountant to check

• If you have changed significantly the investments within your SMSF, or the Trustees plan on changing them in the 2025 FY, you will need to review and update your investment strategy
• We will send you an email in June with a copy of your current SMSF strategy, with instructions on how to update it if needed.

• Some more great news! From July we will move to monthly SMSF account processing and offer you access via a client portal
• This means you can go into your portal to see what’s happening with your SMSF and also
• Your accounting will be kept up-to-date each month, which will overcome the annual processing crush like this year.   
   

• Q – What is the ATO supervisory levy and why am I being charged for it? 
  A – This is the annual ATO administration fee, which has been $259 since 2014. Once your fund it lodged you will receive an email with this fee payable to the ATO and ATO payment slip attached. You can pay this to the ATO via Bpay.
   
• Q – I have an ATO tax liability. How do I pay this?
  A – Once your fund is lodged you will receive an email with the tax payable amount and ATO payment slip attached. You can pay this to the ATO via Bpay.
   
• Q – What do you mean I will have an ATO tax bill? 
  A – If you or your employer have been making contributions, you will get a tax bill. Cass explains this in the video at 9:30
   
• Q – I don’t have enough in my SMSF bank account to cover these fees. What do I do? 
  A – You can make a contribution to your SMSF to ‘top it up’ (see Contributions above) or liquidate some of your assets and deposit those funds into your SMSF bank account to cover the ATO fee and tax liability as applicable. 
   
• Q – I have other questions about the timings and ongoing management. Where can I start? 
  A – We cover the basics on page 25 of our FAQs document online here. If your questions are not answered there, please ask your accountant. 

Insurance

• Finally, if you’re considering new insurance, or changing provider, we’re delighted to announce Lauren Styles is our new referral partner. Read more and contact her here.