Its a BIG One - April Industry News
- Apr 30
- 5 min read
Topics Covered
Important Legislative Update: New Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) Obligations
What This Means When Working With Us
From 1 July 2026, all accounting firms will become regulated entities under Australia's expanded Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) laws. These reforms bring a new group of businesses under AUSTRAC regulation for the first time, known as "Tranche 2," and accountants are among the industries now captured — particularly where services involve property transactions, business sales or acquisitions, or the management of business structures.
What this means for you as our client is that from 1 July 2026, we are legally required to verify your identity and collect certain information before providing a range of services. This includes conducting customer due diligence, maintaining an AML/CTF compliance program, and reporting suspicious matters where required — obligations imposed on us by federal law, not a reflection of any concern about you personally. In practice, you may notice us requesting identity documents or additional information at the start of engagements or transactions. We ask for your patience and cooperation with these checks, and we want to assure you that we are handling all information with the same care and confidentiality you would expect from us. If you have any questions about what this means for your specific situation, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Pay-day Super – What you need to do in 2026
Here are the key things to know from 1 July 2026.
Employers pay super guarantee for each payday, instead of quarterly.
Payments are due in employees' super accounts within 7 business days after payday (unless longer applies, such as for new employees).
The Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH) will be closed. You need to download your SBSCH records and switch to an alternative provider before it shuts down permanently on 30 June 2026.
For the quarter ending June, you will continue to pay super guarantee in full, on time and to the right fund, by the quarterly due date. This way, you will avoid the super guarantee charge. The final quarterly payment (June quarter) is due in employees' super accounts by 28 July.
If you miss the 28 July due date, you will need to lodge a super guarantee charge (SGC) statement and pay the SGC for the quarter ending 30 June 2026.
The late payment offset won't be available for the final June quarterly payment.
Div296 – New Tax on Large Super Balances
— Act Before 1 July 2026
From 1 July 2026, a new tax known as Division 296 will apply to individuals whose total superannuation balance (TSB) exceeds $3 million. If you're in that category, an additional 15% tax will apply to the earnings on the portion of your balance above $3 million — on top of the existing 15% fund tax, bringing the effective rate to 30%. For balances exceeding $10 million, the rate rises further to 40% on that higher portion. Importantly, both thresholds are indexed to CPI, and the final legislation taxes only realised earnings — not unrealised gains.
The window to plan is closing. The first ATO assessments will be based on your balance at 30 June 2027, but the strategies available to you — such as reviewing how assets are held across different structures, equalising balances between spouses, or considering a CGT cost base reset for SMSFs — need to be in place before 30 June 2026. If your super balance is approaching $3 million, now is also the time to model your trajectory. Please get in touch with our team as soon as possible so we can review your position and ensure you're not caught off guard.
The Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions measure (known as the Division 296 tax) takes effect from 1 July 2026. For those with large super balances, it’s important to understand what the new tax does, why it has been introduced, and the practical steps you and your financial adviser should consider.
The Purpose of the Tax
Division 296 is designed to make superannuation tax concessions fairer and more sustainable. Rather than changing the way super is taxed for everyone, the law targets a small group of people who hold large super balances, ensuring they pay more tax on the portion of investment earnings that relate to those large balances.
Who it Applies to — Thresholds and Rates
This new measure, starting 1 July 2026 (first year is 2026-27), applies to an individual with total superannuation balances (TSBs) in excess of the following thresholds:
Large balance threshold: $3.0 million
Very large threshold: $10.0 million.
Both thresholds will be indexed in future years.
Division 296 TSB | Div 296 tax rate on earnings relating to this band | Total effective tax on those earnings |
Up to $3,000,000 | 0% | 15% (standard fund tax) |
$3,000,001 to $10,000,000 | 15% | 30% (15% + 15%) |
Above $10,000,000 | 25% | 40% (15% + 25%) |
Certain people will be excluded from having this new tax levied upon them, notwithstanding that their TSB may exceed the threshold. Excluded persons include child recipients of death benefit pensions and individuals who have made structured settlement superannuation contributions for a personal injury compensation payment.
Further, where a person dies, they will no longer have a TSB. However, other than the first year of operation (ie, 2026-27), there can still be a Division 296 tax assessment in respect of the financial year in which they die, where they had a TSB of more than $3 million at the start of the year. Given superannuation is not an estate asset, this scenario should be considered as part of a review of an individual’s estate plan.
How the Tax Works
From an SMSF perspective, the fund will calculate its Division 296 earnings, which is based on its taxable income with adjustments for assessable contributions; net exempt income attributable to pensions; any non-arm’s length income (which is already taxed at 45%) and income relating to investments in a pooled superannuation trust. There may also be adjustments for any capital gains made from the disposal of fund assets, if the fund has made the relevant small-fund CGT election.
The calculated Division 296 superannuation earnings is then attributed to fund members using an attribution percentage calculated by an actuary. This information will be used by the ATO to assess the member’s Division 296 tax liability.
Division 296 tax is levied on the individual, not a superannuation fund. However, the tax can be paid either by the individual or they can elect for the amount to be deducted from their nominated superannuation interest.
Next Steps
If your total super balance is near—or already above—the thresholds, it is important that you contact your financial adviser to arrange tailored modelling and to discuss whether the small-fund CGT election is suitable. Early planning will help you manage cashflow, reporting and any actuarial requirements efficiently.
This will also be an opportunity to review the suitability and benefits of holding investment capital in a superannuation structure versus alternatives for amounts in excess of the large threshold.
ATO App – Increased Security Measures
Verify call
When you receive a phone call claiming to be from the ATO, you can use the Verify call feature in the ATO app to verify that the call is genuinely from the ATO.
To verify a phone call:
Open the ATO app and log in
Select Verify call
Follow the on-screen prompts.
If you are unable to verify the call, hang up. DO NOT continue the conversation.
For more information about new security measures on the ATO App click here.
If any of the above raises questions for you or your business, please contact our office.
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