Subject to proper documentation, commercial terms and need, if rental or loan repayment relief involving an SMSF, related non-geared company or unit trust, or a related tenant in the form of a reduction, waiver, or deferral gives rise to a contravention of the super laws, the ATO will not take any compliance action against the fund.

If an SMSF exceeds the 5 per cent in-house asset threshold at 30 June 2021 due to the financial impacts of COVID-19 – e.g. valuations on fund assets in total fall against the value of in-house assets specifically – the fund must prepare a written plan to reduce the market value of the fund’s in-house assets to below 5 per cent by 30 June 2022. However, the ATO will not take any compliance action if the SMSF is unable to execute the plan because the market has not recovered in some areas, or it may be unnecessary to implement it as the market has recovered.

The ATO has also stated that no compliance resources will be applied to trustees who breach the residency requirements only because they are stranded overseas due to COVID-19.