Generally speaking, access to your superannuation is limited to the following conditions:

– You have retired and turned 60 or 

– You reached 65, regardless of your work situation

Early access to superannuation is limited to only a few rare circumstances, such as terminal illness, permanent disability, or significant financial difficulty, and the payment procedure is supervised by strict regulations.

One of the benefits of an SMSF is that it gives members control. When complete authority is exercised, it is tempting to go into the superannuation fund and allow transactions without proper restrictions.

When the trustees (or their company) are in financial difficulty and utilise the superannuation account to secure a short-term loan; or when a promoter provides access via a scheme, typically persuading people to form the SMSF and roll over their superannuation into it.

Illegal access to the SMSF’s assets or accounts is easily recognised and will usually be found by an auditor. Unauthorised access is likely to result in the compromise or loss of your retirement assets, but you may also face additional tax liabilities, fines, and interest, as well as being disqualified to act as trustee.

SMSF annual returns that are not filed on time or at all are an indicator of a problem; consequently, verify that your SMSF compliance is up to date. 

If you have any query related to Superannuation, SMSF, SMSF audit, please contact us on (02) 9957 4033 to discuss further.