Does an SMSF need an ABN? The short answer is Yes. An ABN and a TFN.
Does my SMSF need an ABN
You have three players in an SMSF.
The SMSF itself.
The corporate or individual trustee.
And the director(s).
Let’s go through them one by one.
1 – SMSF
The SMSF is actually not a legal entity in itself but it still needs its own ABN and TFN.
ABN
Your SMSF needs an ABN.
The ATO wants your SMSF to get an ABN, whether they run a business or not. But there is no legal obligation for your SMSF to get an ABN. But without an ABN life gets really tough. So just get one.
TFN
Your SMSF needs a TFN.
Your SMSF needs to lodge a tax return and possibly pay tax. And this obviously wouldn’t work without a TFN. So the SMSF needs a TFN.
ACN
A SMSF is a trust and not a company, so they couldn’t get an ACN, even if they wanted to. Only companies get an ACN.
So you could summarise this so far as:
SMSF = TFN + ABN
2 – Trustee
The trustee is a separate legal entity and acts on behalf of the SMSF for the benefit of its members.
ABN
The trustee doesn’t need an ABN as long as the trustee doesn’t run a business (apart from being a trustee). This applies to both individual and corporate trustees.
TFN
The trustee also doesn’t need a TFN as long as the trustee is only a trustee for the SMSF and doesn’t derive income on its own account. Without income there is no need to lodge a return, hence no need to have a TFN.
ACN
The trustee needs an ACN if it is a company.
Every company automatically gets an ACN upon registration. You are not an Australian registered company if you don’t have an ACN.
Constitution v Replaceable Rules
The corporate trustee can be a normal company or a special purpose company. You pay lower ASIC fees as a special purpose company.
Special purpose company means your corporate trustee isn’t doing anything else apart from being a corporate trustee to your SMSF.
A special purpose company doesn’t need an ABN or TFN by definition, but it needs a constitution. The Replaceable Rules won’t work for a special purpose company.
If your corporate trustee is not a special purpose company, then you can use the Replaceable Rules instead of a constitution.
What is What
We used a lot of acronyms. Just in case, here is what they mean.
An ABN (Australian Business Number) is an id code for a business and issued by the Australian Business Register – ABR.
An ACN (Australian Company Number) is an id code for a company and issued by the Australia Securities & Investments Commission – ASIC.
And a TFN (Tax File Number) is an id code for a tax payer and issued by the Australian Tax Office – ATO.
MORE
Class SMSF Benchmark Report June 2018
Disclaimer: Tax Talks does not provide financial or tax advice. All information on Tax Talks is of a general nature only and might no longer be up to date or correct. You should seek professional accredited tax and financial advice when considering whether the information is suitable to your or your client’s circumstances.
Last Updated on 26 November 2020
