There has been a significant growth in the value of superannuation assets held in retirement products.
As a result of this, regulators, super funds and super funds members are increasing their focus on superannuation pensions.
This extra attention on superannuation pensions is reflected by the release of a series of rulings and other announcements regarding the interpretation of laws concerning super pensions.
The ATO is also raising concerns about the non-compliance of some pension paying SMSF’s.
The ATO’s Compliance in Focus 2013-2014 outlines the ATO’s focus on the misuse of the concessional tax environment, either deliberately or unintentionally.
Compliance in Focus also outlines the additional efforts of regulators to identify SMSF’s that are incorrectly reporting the tax-exempt pension income.