Release authorities are documents issued by the ATO to super funds, authorising the release of money from a member’s super account to pay specific liabilities, including in relation to excess concessional contributions, excess non-concessional contributions, and Division 293 tax assessments.

The ATO is seeing a rise in SMSFs that receive a release authority and are either:

• not responding within 10 business days as required; or
• responding incorrectly (i.e., either not releasing the requested amount, or failing to submit a release authority statement back to the ATO, or both).

Failure to meet these obligations may result in significant penalties for the fund. SMSF trustees should make sure they have effective processes in place to respond to release authorities promptly and accurately.

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