Once
you employ your assets in the super fund, the natural thing to expect
is to see the gains at the end of the year. Following all ATO
regulations and rules, the timing for lodging your smsf annual return
will vary depending on when did you register your fund.
If
this is your fund's first year of existance and functioning, the due
date for lodging an annual return would be the 28th of
February. If not the case, with good lodgement record and supporting
documentation you'd be able to file for lodging your annual gain on
the 15th of May.
The
date changes if you decide to lodge your annual return without the
assistance of your chosen agent. In this case, if it's the first year
of existance of your fund, the due date for lodging would be the 31st
of October. For all subsequent years it changes to the 28th
of February.
Once
you have the calendar all organized, you should start preparing your
documentation for the lodge. First you should know that the annual
return from your smsf investment is not an income tax return. The
smsf annual return is more than that and as such it happens
after the audit of the fund has been finalised. Also, before you're
able to lodge, all super regulatory information should be reported,
member contributions should be made and supervisory levy should be
paid.
The
procedure for lodging annual smsf return is very precisely determined
and organized. If you have an agent taking care of these things
(which is always the better option having in mind all the financial
and accounting terms and rules you have to master in order to be a
profesional), then the agent will tell you exactly when are you
suppose to file all supporting documentation for lodging a return.
That presumably, that the audit has already been done. In that case,
you're only responsible for gathering all information and
documentation needed and delivering them to your agent by the time he
asked you to.
If
you're handling the fund on your own, without an agent, than have in
mind that you need to complete the entire documentation along with
the audited financial reports and tax accounting and make sure
they're orderly sent to the ATO before due date for lodging. That's
because in that particular situation, the ATO will have to scan and
review your documentation in case something is missing or not done
correctly to be fixed. Have in mind that there are special rules and
obligations for super lodgement and therefore, special penalties if
you miss a deadline or have done something inapropriate and didn't
fix it after being asked to.
All
in all, unless you're holding a degree in accounting and financial
matters, it's highly advisable to allow a professional to do all the
job for the smsf annual return lodgement. You'd be rest assured your
affairs have been handled in the right manner and be freed of
responsibility if something goes wrong, which is hardly possible
(after all, professionals know their job, right?).
