By Millinda Cobban, Associate Director, SMSFcentral Last reviewed 12 August 2026. Figures current for the 2026-27 financial year. An SMSF tax return falls due every year, including the years when nothing much happened. No income, no contributions, no benefits paid, and the return is still due, because it is not only a tax return. The […]
SMSF vs Industry Super Fund: An Honest Comparison
By Millinda Cobban, Associate Director, SMSFcentral Last reviewed 12 August 2026. Figures current for the 2026-27 financial year. Comparing an SMSF vs industry super fund usually turns into an argument about fees, which is a shame, because fees are only one of about six things that actually differ. Both are superannuation structures regulated under the […]
SMSF Cryptocurrency Rules: What the ATO Requires
By Millinda Cobban, Associate Director, SMSFcentral Last reviewed 12 August 2026. Figures current for the 2026-27 financial year. SMSF cryptocurrency holdings stopped being unusual some years ago, and the compliance questions they raise have settled into a familiar shape. Nothing in the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 prohibits digital assets, and the ATO accepts Bitcoin, […]
SMSF In-House Asset Rules: The 5% Limit Explained
By Millinda Cobban, Associate Director, SMSFcentral Last reviewed 12 August 2026. Figures current for the 2026-27 financial year. Most breaches of the SMSF in-house asset rules are not deliberate. They happen because a trustee never recognised that a particular arrangement fell inside the definition at all. An in-house asset is a loan to, an investment […]
Corporate Trustee vs Individual Trustee SMSF
By Millinda Cobban, Associate Director, SMSFcentral Last reviewed 12 August 2026. Figures current for the 2026-27 financial year. Choosing between a corporate trustee vs individual trustee is one of the first decisions a new SMSF makes, and one of the few that is expensive to reverse. Both structures are entirely valid under the Superannuation Industry […]
SMSF Trustee Responsibilities: 2026-27 Checklist
By Millinda Cobban, Associate Director, SMSFcentral Last reviewed 12 August 2026. Figures current for the 2026-27 financial year. SMSF trustee responsibilities are personal, and that is the part which catches people out. You can engage an administrator, an accountant, an auditor and an adviser, and the legal obligation still sits with you. Those obligations come […]
SMSF Contribution Caps 2026-27: $32,500 and $130,000
By Millinda Cobban, Associate Director, SMSFcentral Last reviewed 12 August 2026. Figures current for the 2026-27 financial year. Two years of standing still ended on 1 July 2026, when the SMSF contribution caps both moved. The concessional cap went from $30,000 to $32,500, the non-concessional cap from $120,000 to $130,000, and the bring-forward thresholds shifted […]
Transfer Balance Cap 2026-27: What $2.1 Million Means
By Millinda Cobban, Associate Director, SMSFcentral Last reviewed 12 August 2026. Figures current for the 2026-27 financial year. The transfer balance cap rose to $2.1 million on 1 July 2026, and the question we field most often is whether that hands every pension member another $100,000 of tax-free room. For a good number of members […]
What Advisers Should Look For in an SMSF Administration Partner
By Greg Dennis CPA, Director When an adviser refers SMSF clients to an administrator, the administrator’s work becomes part of the adviser’s service whether anyone intends it or not. Late financials delay advice. Wrong member balances produce wrong recommendations. A compliance breach that should have been caught lands on the adviser’s desk as a client […]
The Future of SMSF Administration Technology
By Millinda Cobban, Associate Director Most conversations about technology in the SMSF sector jump straight to artificial intelligence. That skips over the bigger story. The changes that matter most to trustees and advisers right now are less glamorous: bank and broker data feeds, administration that happens during the year instead of after it, electronic rollovers […]