Your fund can only borrow money in very limited circumstances, including:

• borrowing money for a maximum of 90 days to meet benefit payments due to members (the borrowings can't exceed 10% of your fund’s total assets)
• borrowing money for a maximum of 7 days to cover the settlement of security transactions if the borrowing does not exceed 10% of your fund’s total assets, or
• borrowing to acquire an asset using limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBA) that meets certain conditions.

A trustee can only use an LRBA to fund the purchase of a single asset. This single asset must be held in a separate trust. Any investment returns earned from the asset go to the SMSF trustee.

For more information, see limited recourse borrowing arrangements (LRBA) on the ATO website.