The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has shared key updates for SMSF trustees this month, covering market valuations, crypto asset audits, and the closure of the Australia Post SMSF Gateway Service. Here’s what trustees should know to stay compliant.
Understanding market valuations for your SMSF
Find out why it’s important to provide accurate market valuations for your SMSF.
A key responsibility self-managed super fund (SMSF) trustees have every income year is valuing your fund’s assets at ‘market value’.
Prior to lodging your SMSF annual return (SAR), your fund’s SMSF auditor is required to check assets have been valued correctly and assess and document whether the basis for the valuation is appropriate.
Where the auditor determines you have not provided sufficient appropriate audit evidence to them to confirm the fund’s assets have been correctly valued at market value, a regulation 8.02B contravention may have occurred and your auditor may be required to notify the ATO about this.
In 2024–25 the ATO observed an increase in regulation 8.02B breaches being reported by SMSF auditors. These breaches now account for over 12% of all breaches reported to the ATO.
The ATO is increasingly using data to identify and deal with risks and continues to place compliance scrutiny on funds who have maintained the same values on reported SMSF assets in their annual return.
The ATO is concerned these funds may not be meeting their legal requirement to value and report their assets at ‘market value’ every year.
Trustees are reminded:
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If your asset valuations fail to meet the valuation requirements, the fund and members may have additional tax to pay and you could be liable for administrative penalties.
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As part of the annual audit process, you must provide objective and supportable evidence to your SMSF auditor to support the valuation of your fund assets. This includes providing all relevant documents specifically requested by your auditor.
Auditing SMSFs with crypto assets
Auditors should check that crypto asset investments are compliant.
If a self-managed super fund (SMSF) invests in crypto assets, the approved SMSF auditor must check that the investment complies with superannuation laws and regulations.
During your audit, confirm that the investment:
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is permitted under the fund’s trust deed
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aligns with the fund’s investment strategy, and the trustee has considered the risks and how the investment supports the member’s retirement goals
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is held and owned by the fund — that is, it is stored in a digital wallet in the fund’s name, separate from any crypto personally held by trustees or members
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is reported at market value in the fund’s financial statements.
Holding statements or investment summaries alone are not sufficient to confirm market value. You must obtain additional objective, supportable evidence. For example, you can use the 30 June closing value published on the website of a crypto exchange that provides historical data. Remember to also document the conclusions you reached on the fund’s compliance with these requirements in your audit file.
If the crypto is held by a custodian, such as an exchange, you should obtain a Type 2 report if available and perform further substantive testing to confirm the holding statement is correct.
If you can’t verify the crypto asset exists, belongs to the fund, or is reported at market value, you must qualify both Part A and Part B of the audit report if material. When the reporting criteria applies, lodge an Auditor Contravention Report (ACR) for a regulation 8.02B breach.
Australia Post removing SMSF Gateway Service
If you’re using the Australia Post SMSF Gateway Service find out what to do before it’s restricted on 30 November 2025.
Australia Post is closing the self-managed super fund (SMSF) Gateway Service to new subscribers. The last day to purchase a subscription will be 29 November 2025. From 30 November 2025, you’ll no longer be able to buy or renew subscriptions with Australia Post.
You’ll continue to have access to the service until your current subscription expires.
What you need to do
Arrange an alternative service if required
To ensure you continue to meet the SuperStream data Standards for your SMSF, Australia Post encourages you to arrange an alternative SMSF messaging service before your subscription expiry date. You can access a list of messaging services by going to the register of SMSF messaging providers.
The service you choose will provide you with a new electronic service address (ESA), for your SMSF contributions, rollovers and release authorities. You’ll be required to provide the new ESA to the ATO and any employers making contributions to your SMSF.
Download and save your data
Access to the SMSF Gateway Service will cease when your subscription expires. It’s recommended that you download and back up any data you require before your expiry date. For:
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Contributions and rollovers: you can download your data via the View contributions and View rollovers tabs on the left navigation menu. Perform a search for the date range you want to capture, then click the Save as CSV button, which will appear once the search is complete.
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Past invoices: go to the View past invoices tab and select a PDF to download.
Source: Australian Taxation Office
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