An SMSF must be a complying Australian super fund.

To be a complying super fund and receive tax concessions, your SMSF needs to be an Australian super fund at all times during the financial year.

It’s your responsibility to check your fund is an Australian super fund and maintains this status over its lifetime.

An SMSF is an Australian super fund if it meets all 3 of these residency conditions:
1. The fund was established in Australia, or at least one of its assets is located in Australia.

The ATO considers the fund was ‘established in Australia’ if the initial contribution to start the fund was paid and accepted in Australia.

2. The central management and control of the fund is ordinarily in Australia.

This means the SMSF’s strategic decisions are made regularly, and high-level duties and activities are performed in Australia. It includes:

• formulating the investment strategy of the fund
• reviewing the performance of the fund’s investments
• determining how assets are to be used for member benefits.

In general, your fund will still meet this requirement even if its central management and control is temporarily outside Australia. If central management and control of the fund is permanently outside Australia for any period, it will not meet this requirement.

3. The fund either has no active members or it has active members who are Australian residents and who hold at least 50% of either:

• the total market value of the fund’s assets attributable to super interests
• the sum of the amounts that would be payable to active members if they decided to leave the fund.

Visit the ATO website for more information on how to check your fund is an Australian super fund.