Transfer Benefits in Superannuation

When your SMSF is set up, you can request your retail Super Fund to roll over your Superannuation balance to the SMSF. The retail fund will have a “Benefit Rollover Request” form that should be completed. You can phone your retail superannuation fund to request the form, or it might be available from their website. Alternatively, you can request this with the ATO Request_for_rollover_of_whole_balance_form request. 

The retail Super Fund will ask you for details of your SMSF  such as ABN (Australian Business Number), bank account details and confirmation of Trustees and Beneficiaries in the SMSF before sending the money over. Please contact Superannuation Warehouse if you need data from the ATO confirming Trustees and Beneficiaries in your SMSF. We are a registered tax agent and can access this information directly from the Tax Office system. We can also certify this document. This is a free service for our clients.

The retail funds always send out the payment confirmation with the Rollover Statement. Please keep this statement since it lists the tax components of the benefit received, which is important for accounting purpose.

Our accounting clients can have access to the accounting system and initiate a rollover request from their retails fund. Alternatively, we can assist with a fee of $200.

Transferring Funds from an SMSF to a retail Super Fund

You can also send funds as a roll over from your SMSF back to a retail fund. Similar to the process noted above, our accounting clients can have access to the accounting system and initiate a rollover request as a transferring Fund. Alternatively, we can assist with a fee of $200. 

SuperStream is required for rollovers to or from SMSFs

From 1 October 2021, SuperStream is required to make rollovers between SMSFs and retail/industry funds. This is a more efficient practice since the fund can be transferred faster with fewer errors.

To use SuperStream for super benefits rollovers, there are a few things to note:

• The SMSF must have an electronic service address (ESA). To register for an ESA, please see this page
• The SMSF must have their details accurately updated with the ATO including the SMSF’s bank account

Retail superannuation funds do not like rolling money out from their Funds. Although it is legally yours, some Funds make it excessively hard for you to access your money. This is because if they roll money over to your SMSF, they won’t earn a commission anymore, so don’t get disheartened if they make you jump through hoops. However, the new method with SuperStream discussed above is a great way to get the rollover done quicker.

The rollover process might take a few weeks, but it is worth it!!