If you are thinking about removing yourself as an individual trustee of your Self-Managed Superannuation (‘SMSF’) and appointing a company as your trustee, the process can be very simple. However, it can also be quite costly if it is not done correctly.
What do you need to do to change your SMSF trustee to a company?
In order to change your SMSF trustee to a company there are a number of requirements that must be satisfied:
- Resignation of Individual Trustees – the current individual trustee/s must submit a notice of resignation to your SMSF. The notice of resignation/s must be maintained with the SMSF register;
- Minutes of Meeting – the current individual trustees of your SMSF must record, and acknowledge the following:
- Their resignation;
- The appointment of a corporate trustee;
- A Deed of Variation – this is required to acknowledge the change of trustee, and the replacement SMSF Trust Deed (if applicable);
- The new SMSF Trust Deed, allowing the corporate trustee to act as the trustee of the SMSF (if applicable).
- Consent to Act – the directors of the newly appointed corporate trustee will need to consent to act as a director of a corporate trustee. Each director of the corporate trustee will need to consent in writing. Each signed consent must also be maintained with your SMSF register;
- Deed of Variation – a Deed of Variation must be prepared acknowledging the change of trustee of the SMSF. This Deed of Variation must be signed by the resigning individual trustee/s, the newly appointed corporate trustee directors and the members of the SMSF; and
- The new SMSF Trust Deed – before appointing a corporate trustee, you should ensure your SMSF Trust Deed permits a corporate trustee to act on its behalf. If the SMSF Trust Deed does not allow this, it will need to be replaced.
What ATO documents do you need to attend to?
Furthermore, there are a number of documents which are required to be lodged with the ATO within strict timeframes when removing your individual trustees, and appointing a corporate trustee:
- ATO SMSF Trustee Declaration;
- ATO SMSF Removal of an Associate; and
- ATO Change of Details of Superannuation Entities.
When changing your SMSF trustee it is important that:
- Everything is properly documented;
- All documents and/or copies of documents are maintained with the SMSF Register; and
- All relevant documents are lodged with the ATO within the requisite time frame
If you are considering changing your individual trustee/s to a corporate trustee, our team at FC Lawyers can help you make the process as simple as possible.
Please contact me if you have any questions.
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