The ATO has released its Compliance program for the 2012-2013 year.  The program lets us know what the ATO will be focusing on in the financial year to make sure everyone is satisfying their tax obligations.  For SMSF’s this year, the ATO will focus on the following areas :

Exempt pension income – the ATO wants to make sure that pension income isn’t being overstated in order to receive tax free benefits.  They plan on looking at 3000 SMSF’s to see if this is happening.
Non-arm’s length transactions – dealings between super funds and their members personally or their businesses.  An example of this would be the leasing of business premises owned by the super fund by the members business.
New SMSF Trustees – the ATO is wants to ensure that new trustees are aware of their responsibilities and obligations when it comes to the running of their super fund.
Lodgement of annual returns – a significant proportion of SMSF’s do not lodge their returns on time.  The ATO wants to see this number reduced this year.
Super law breaches reported by auditors – the ATO will look further into breaches reported by auditors.

These are only a few of the area’s the ATO will focus on for the coming financial year.  However, if you plan carefully and ensure attention to detail, compliance doesn’t have to be hard.