Key Highlights

•  Trustees must tell the ATO within 28 days of a change in trustees, directors, members, contact details, addresses or fund status.

•  Every member must remain an individual trustee or a director of the corporate trustee to keep the fund within the SMSF definition.

•  A trustee company set up only to act as trustee should be deregistered with ASIC only after the fund's final return is processed and assets have left it.

Self-managed super funds rarely stay the same for long. A child joins as a member, a couple separates, a member moves overseas, a director of the corporate trustee loses capacity or dies, or the fund is wound up and the trustee company is no longer needed. Each of these changes carries notification obligations, and some carry strict time limits.

The ATO renewed its reminder to trustees in its SMSF newsroom in May 2026, asking funds to report all changes within 28 days, "no matter how minor they may seem".

What must be reported within 28 days

The ATO's guidance on notifying changes says trustees must tell the ATO within 28 days of a change in:

  • trustees;
  • directors of the corporate trustee;
  • members;
  • contact details, including the contact person, phone and email;
  • addresses, including the postal, registered and address for service of fund notices; and
  • fund status.

Changes to bank account, tax refund account and electronic service address details are updated separately, through Online services for business, a tax agent or by contacting the ATO.

The ATO accepts notifications online through the Australian Business Register, through a registered agent, by phone if the caller is the authorised contact, or on the paper form Change of details for superannuation entities (NAT 3036). The ATO says the SMSF annual return cannot be used to report a structural change.

The ATO's 2026 reminder adds that it sends an SMS or email alert whenever changes are made to a fund's details, as a protection against fraud, and that its SMS alerts contain no hyperlinks.

Keeping the fund within the SMSF definition

Changes must keep the fund within the definition of an SMSF. Broadly, every member must be an individual trustee or a director of the corporate trustee. If the fund stops meeting the definition, the ATO says trustees have six months to restructure, or to wind up and roll benefits into an APRA-regulated fund. The same six-month window is referred to in the ATO's guidance on the death of a member.

Adding new trustees or members can prompt an ATO review, and during a review the fund's status on Super Fund Lookup may show as "Regulation details withheld". Trustees planning to add members should allow for this, particularly if contributions or rollovers are expected soon after.

If a trustee or director becomes a disqualified person, the ATO says they must notify the ATO in writing immediately, unless the ATO disqualified them, and stop acting.

When the corporate trustee becomes ineligible

If the corporate trustee becomes ineligible, for example through insolvency or deregistration by ASIC, the ATO says the fund must be restructured. Options include reinstating the company, appointing a new company or moving to individual trustees. The ATO recommends talking to ASIC to make sure assets held by the corporate trustee can be transferred.

Deregistering a trustee company after a wind-up

Where a company was set up only to act as trustee and the fund has been wound up, the ATO's wind-up guidance says trustees should notify ASIC that the company needs to be deregistered.

ASIC's guidance on voluntary deregistration, updated on 2 October 2026, says all members of the company must agree and the company must not be carrying on business, must have assets worth less than $1,000, must have no outstanding liabilities, must not be party to legal proceedings and must have paid all ASIC fees and penalties. The application is made online using Form 6010, and a non-refundable fee applies. ASIC says assets left in the company usually vest in ASIC or the Commonwealth after deregistration, so trustees should make sure every fund asset has been transferred out first. ASIC also suggests applying at least two weeks before the next annual review fee falls due to avoid paying it. If the application is approved, the company may be deregistered about two months after ASIC publishes a notice.

Practical considerations for trustees

  • Diarise the 28-day ATO notification deadline whenever a change occurs.
  • Check that every member remains a trustee or director after any change.
  • Update ASIC records for director changes, as well as the ATO.
  • Do not deregister a trustee company until the fund's final return has been processed and all assets have been transferred.

Hypothetical example

A hypothetical three-member fund with a corporate trustee loses one member, who rolls her benefit to a retail fund after moving interstate. The remaining directors notify the ATO of the change in members and directors within 28 days and update the company's records with ASIC. Two years later, when the fund is wound up, they wait for the ATO's confirmation of the wind-up before applying to deregister the company.

Takeaway

Small changes to an SMSF can have large consequences if they are not reported. Trustees should notify the ATO within 28 days, keep the fund within the SMSF definition and, when closing a fund, deregister a sole-purpose trustee company only after every asset has left it.