SMSF – True Crime Story

One trustee of a SMSF takes the assets, the remaining trustee is left with a penalty tax bill

A husband and wife are trustees of a self-managed superannuation fund. Unbeknown to the wife, the husband illegally withdraws all the assets, some $3.4 million, and leaves the country.

The ATO assesses the fund as non-complying, and hits the wife with tax and penalties of $3 million. Although it acknowledged that she was not complicit in the fraud, the Administrative Affairs Tribunal confirmed the tax assessment.

This is a true story.

Lesson: a super fund trustee cannot dodge responsibility by leaving all decisions to the other trustee.