FAQs – SMSF Audits

Your total superannuation balance is broadly the value of all your superannuation interests at the previous 30 June, adjusted for certain amounts under the superannuation law.

It includes superannuation held in all funds, not just your SMSF.

Your total superannuation balance is used to determine eligibility for several superannuation concessions, including:

• non-concessional contributions;
• the bring-forward arrangement; and
• carry-forward concessional contributions.

Concessional contributions generally include:

• employer contributions;
• salary-sacrifice contributions; and
• personal contributions claimed as a tax deduction.

Non-concessional contributions are generally personal contributions for which no tax deduction is claimed.

You may be able to use unused concessional contribution cap amounts from the previous five financial years if your total superannuation balance was less than $500,000 at the previous 30 June.

Your contributions first use the current year’s concessional cap. The oldest available unused cap amounts are then applied.

Unused cap amounts expire after five years.

The bring-forward arrangement may allow an eligible member to contribute more than the normal annual non-concessional contribution cap.

2025–26

2026–27

A member who has already triggered the bring-forward arrangement may remain subject to the limits applying in the year it was triggered.

Professional advice should be obtained before making a large contribution.

An SMSF can generally accept eligible voluntary member contributions made on or before 28 days after the end of the month in which the member turns 75.

Different rules apply to mandated employer contributions, downsizer contributions and certain other amounts.

Members aged 67 to 74 generally do not need to satisfy a work test for their fund to accept non-concessional contributions.

However, a work test or work-test exemption may be required if the member wishes to claim a personal contribution as a tax deduction.

The work test generally requires the individual to be gainfully employed for at least 40 hours during a consecutive 30-day period.

An eligible person aged 55 or over may contribute up to $300,000 from the proceeds of selling an eligible home.

For a couple, each eligible person may contribute up to $300,000.

A downsizer contribution:

• does not count towards the normal non-concessional contribution cap;
• is not restricted by the member’s total superannuation balance when it is made; and
• will count towards the member’s total superannuation balance after it is contributed.

Eligibility requirements and time limits apply.

Certain amounts arising from the disposal of eligible small business assets may be contributed without counting towards the normal non-concessional contribution cap.

The small business CGT concession rules are complex. Specialist advice should be obtained before making the contribution.

The transfer balance cap limits the amount a person can transfer into retirement-phase income streams.

A member’s personal transfer balance cap may be lower than the general cap if they previously commenced a retirement-phase income stream.

The transfer balance cap does not limit the total amount a person may hold in superannuation. Amounts above the cap can generally remain in accumulation phase.

SMSFs generally report transfer balance account events quarterly.

A report is generally due within 28 days after the end of the quarter in which the event occurs.

Common reportable events include:

• commencing a retirement-phase pension;
• fully or partially commuting a retirement-phase pension;
• becoming entitled to a reversionary pension; and
• responding to an ATO commutation authority.

Ordinary pension payments are not generally reported through transfer balance account reporting.

Preservation age is the age at which a person may become eligible to access their superannuation, subject to satisfying an applicable condition of release.

Preservation age is not the same as Age Pension age.

Preserved superannuation benefits may generally be accessed without cashing restrictions in the following circumstances:

Other conditions of release may include:

• permanent incapacity;
• terminal medical condition;
• temporary incapacity;
• severe financial hardship;
• compassionate grounds;
• death;
• the First Home Super Saver Scheme; and
• certain other limited circumstances permitted by law.

Trustees should retain sufficient evidence showing that the relevant condition of release has been satisfied.

A member who has reached preservation age but has not satisfied a condition of release with nil cashing restrictions may be able to commence a transition-to-retirement income stream.

Generally:

• a minimum pension must be paid each year;
• the maximum annual pension payment is 10% of the account balance determined under the applicable pension standards; and
• lump-sum withdrawals are restricted unless another condition of release has been met.

A transition-to-retirement income stream will generally not enter retirement phase until the member satisfies a prescribed condition of release.

The minimum pension is generally calculated by applying the relevant percentage to the pension account balance at 1 July.

For a pension commenced during the financial year, the minimum is generally calculated using the commencement balance and adjusted for the remaining portion of the year.

No minimum pension payment is generally required for the commencement year where the pension starts on or after 1 June.

If the required minimum is not paid, the income stream may be taken to have ceased for income-tax purposes from the start of the financial year, unless an applicable ATO administrative concession is available.

Pension payments from a taxed superannuation source are generally tax-free to a member aged 60 or over.

Different rules may apply to:

• untaxed elements;
• capped defined-benefit income streams;
• members under age 60; and
• death-benefit pensions.

The following is a general summary for benefits paid from a taxed superannuation source.

Different rules apply to:

• benefits containing an untaxed element;
• disability benefits;
• death benefits; and
• other special circumstances.

Because preservation age has now increased to 60, the low-rate cap is no longer generally relevant for benefits paid during 2025–26 and 2026–27.

An SMSF death benefit must generally be paid as soon as practicable after the member’s death.

It may generally be paid to:

• a dependant under superannuation law;
• the deceased member’s legal personal representative; or
• a combination of these.

Whether the benefit can be paid as a pension or must be paid as a lump sum depends on the beneficiary’s circumstances.

Adult children generally cannot receive a death-benefit pension unless they satisfy the relevant dependency or disability requirements.

A child death-benefit pension will generally need to be commuted by age 25 unless the child satisfies the applicable disability exception.

A deceased member’s benefit cannot remain indefinitely in their accumulation account.

Tax may apply where a lump-sum death benefit is paid to someone who is not a death-benefits dependant for tax purposes.