TBAR – what is an intermediary?
An intermediary is a person or entity authorised to complete and lodge a TBAR for your SMSF.
Superannuation Funds are required to appoint Intermediaries to provide data about events that affect any member’s balance cap to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
The intermediary will be required to provide their contact details to the ATO in case an ATO employee reviewing the TBAR needs further information or clarification. These contact details are provided under the authorised representative declaration in Section G of the TBAR.
The appointed intermediary should be qualified and sufficiently informed to discuss details contained in the TBAR with the ATO if required.
Who should you appoint as an Intermediary?
For the purposes of completing and lodging a TBAR, an Intermediary can be any person or entity been authorised by the provider (‘SMSF’) to lodge a TBAR on the trustee/s behalf.
A fund can appoint multiple Intermediaries. For example, you may wish to authorise your fund’s accountant or tax agent as an intermediary. You may also wish to appoint a Trustee or employee of your Fund or a fund Administrator.
If your fund has a corporate trustee, you may wish to appoint a director or qualified employee of the trustee company as an intermediary.
While you can have many Intermediaries for a single fund, only one can be active at any time.
You must assign the Intermediary currently authorised to lodge TBAR reports before adding an Event.
Assigning an Intermediary to a Fund will automatically unassign any previously assigned Intermediary for that Fund.
Trustees and directors of corporate trustees should always remember that while they may appoint employees, agents or professional service providers to provide services to their Fund, the ultimate responsibility and accountability for the fund’s actions always lies with the Trustees or directors of a corporate trustee.
As an individual trustee, or as director of a corporate trustee, you may be personally liable to pay an administrative penalty if your SMSF is not compliant with certain relevant laws