There’s a growing list of services online that we’re coming to rely upon. And I’m not talking about Uber Eats or Menulog! One day, you might add the Australian Tax Office (ATO) to that list with superannuation being one of them.
The online world accessible via your phone, tablet or computer is growing at an amazing rate. Accessible services include a vast array of conveniences that I would have loved early in my working life. I remember actually dropping off a completed tax return to the Perth ATO office. This is now the site of Perth’s Business Hotel – The Duxton, situated at 1 St Georges Terrace Perth. I’m actually embarrassed to say how much I enjoy shopping at the Big Green Shed from my desk after a good dose of scrolling through WA Lawn Addicts. For those who don’t subscribe to Facebook, you might be unfamiliar with trying not to promote commercial enterprises by acknowledging their presence via pseudonym instead of their name (aka Bunnings).
Anyhow, wonder no more – a lot of services and conveniences are at our fingertips which means information we used to have to wait for (or physically locate) is truly only a device away.
What does this mean for superannuation information?
You may not realise but the ATO is the responsible commonwealth agency tasked with the supervision of superannuation matters. And the ATO collects a lot of data about your retirement wealth. It’s not just information, the ATO provides many of its services online. An example of these are submitting Division 293 tax elections and requesting the release of super on compassionate grounds. Access to your personal information held by the ATO is via your MyGov account.
There is a warning.
We’ve come to rely on the accuracy of the information we access. We expect timeliness; if any enterprise is going to host our information, it had better be truly up to date. We’ve come to rely on our bank account information always being accurate and up to date, same goes for our shareholding or investment portfolios.
Alas, the ATO uses multiple sources to present your superannuation information. Which means the data might be a little bit old depending on the time of the year you access the information, so, a word of warning. The ATO does not hold your most up to date balance or employer contribution details. The data hosted by the ATO can be sourced from your super fund, tax return and employer. Checking this data against your own super statements, letters, notices of assessment and tax returns might be required before you can rely on that data.
Next time, we’ll look at some the superannuation records held by the ATO.
To find out more please contact the team at Boutique Advisers for a confidential, complimentary discussion.
Damien Quirk is a Senior Financial Adviser and has worked across the finance industry including superannuation, personal advice and the banking industry for more than 30 years. He has assisted high net worth individuals with complex financial structures right through to working with mum and dad’s and their important personal financial goals.