The term ‘rollover’ refers to transferring money within the superannuation (super) environment. Once upon a time, if a super fund member wanted to rollover into another super fund, they would complete a form requesting certain information, obtain said information, and submit this to the relevant super fund. If there was an issue with the information provided, the member was contacted and asked to clarify.

The new process is conducted through SuperStream. According to the Australian Tax Office, SuperStream is a government reform to improve the efficiency of the super system. Unfortunately, this statement is better in theory than in practice.

SuperStream uses an SMSF verification service (SVS) to validate information such as the receiving fund’s details, member’s information, and bank account information. This intends to assure that funds are being transferred to the correct place (an important factor given the increasing risks of cyber-crime). However, it isn’t always smooth sailing.

A downfall of SuperStream occurs when there is an SVS verification issue. All relevant parties are informed there is an SVS verification issue however, not what the specific issue involves. This can result in a scenario where a transferring super fund, receiving super fund, member, accountant, and/ or adviser must attempt to determine why the rollover has failed. Suddenly, an action that used to take one person now requires up to four individuals, all reviewing different and segmented information. There are many other potential issues of SuperStream when you are a new member of a fund attempting to rollover, have recently established a self-managed super fund (SMSF), or are behind on your tax lodgement obligations.

As a firm, we are directly and indirectly involved in a number of issues within retail and industry funds and SMSFs of our clients and are achieving results in resolving these.

If we can assist you in this regard, please contact our SMSF advisory team on (07) 3391 5055 or via smsfadmin@mgdwealth.com.au.

Any advice included in this communication is general and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. As such, you should consider its appropriateness having regard to these factors before acting on it. Any tax information refers to current laws, is not based on your unique circumstances and should not be relied on as tax advice. Before you make any decision about whether to acquire a certain financial product, you should obtain and read the relevant product disclosure statement.