As part of package of miscellaneous amendments, Treasury are consulting on a measure which proposes that trustees of SMSFs finalise their accounts and statements 45 days prior to the lodgement due date of their annual return.
The proposed draft regulation would, from the 2020-21 financial year onwards, see trustees who are required to lodge annual returns by 31 October being also required to finalise their reporting by mid-September. Non-compliance with this deadline can be accompanied by civil and criminal penalties. It is unclear at this stage how this new requirement is to be enforced. Submissions are required by 17 November.