Increase to maximum number of allowable members
Increase to the maximum number of allowable members in a self-managed superannuation fund and small APRA-regulated superannuation fund.
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Self Managed Superannuation Funds) Bill 2021, that increases the maximum number of allowable members in self-managed superannuation funds and small APRA-regulated superannuation funds from 4 to 6 has passed and received royal assent on 22 June 2021. The amendments commence from 1 July 2021.
Closure of eligible rollover funds
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Reuniting More Superannuation) Bill 2020, that facilitates the closure of Eligible Rollover Funds (ERF) has passed and received royal assent on 22 March 2021.
The reporting and payment of ERF accounts will be due and payable by:
- 30 June 2021 – for ERF low balance accounts (less than $6,000)
- 31 January 2022 – for all other accounts held by ERFs.
Actuarial certificate requirements for small superannuation funds
The Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 6) Bill 2021 has passed and received royal assent on 13 September 2021. The amendments commence from 1 October 2021 and apply to assessments for the 2021–22 income year and later income years.
The amendment removes the requirement for trustees of small superannuation funds (complying funds with no more than 6 members) to obtain an actuarial certificate when calculating exempt current pension income (ECPI), where all members of the fund are fully in retirement phase for all of the income year.
Choice of calculation method for ECPI for certain complying superannuation funds
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing Superannuation Outcomes For Australians and Helping Australian Businesses Invest) Bill 2021 has passed and received royal assent on 22 February 2022. The amendments commence from 1 April 2022 and apply to the 2021–22 income year and later income years.
The amendments allow superannuation trustees to choose their preferred method of calculating ECPI if all of the fund's assets are held to discharge liabilities in relation to retirement phase interests for part, but not all, of the income year.
Small superannuation funds should refer to exempt current pension income for small superannuation funds to confirm which ECPI method the fund is eligible to use and their actuarial certificate requirements.
Non-arm's length expenses (NALE)
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Support for Small Business and Charities and Other Measures) Act 2024External Link amends the rules for NALE for superannuation entities.
Under the amendments, from 1 July 2018:
- For APRA regulated funds with no more than 6 members (small APRA funds), the amount of non-arm's length income (NALI) arising from a NALE that is a general expense (also referred to as 'non-arm's length general expense') will be twice the difference between the expense that the entity did incur (including nil expenditure) and the amount that might have been expected to be incurred. This is the 'Twice the difference approach'.
- For APRA regulated funds with more than 6 members (large APRA fund), exempt public sector superannuation funds, pooled superannuation trusts (PSTs) and approved deposit funds (ADFs), will be exempt from the NALI rules arising from NALE for both non-arm's length general and specific expenses. However, they will still be subject to the remaining non-arm's length income rules for income derived on a non-arm's length basis.
- For all superannuation entities, the NALE rules don't apply to expenditure incurred or expected to have been incurred before 1 July 2018.
Continue to: Instructions to complete the fund income tax return