The SMSF compliance calendar for 2026-27

The SMSF compliance year runs on fixed anchors: a transfer balance account report within 28 days of the end of any quarter in which a reportable event occurred, an approved auditor appointed at least 45 days before the annual return is due, the 2026 annual return itself falling anywhere between 31 October 2026 and 15 May 2027 depending on whether the fund is new, self-preparing or agent-lodged, and 30 June deadlines for actually paying minimum pensions and valuing every fund asset at market value. The $259 supervisory levy is paid in advance with the return.

Key points:
- Due dates for the 2026 annual return (covering 2025-26) vary by fund: **31 October 2026** for self-preparing new registrants and funds with a return overdue at 30 June 2026; **31 January 2027** for self-preparers that were taxable large or medium entities in 2025-26; **28 February 2027** for all other self-preparers and for funds in their first year with a tax agent; **15 May 2027** is the general date under the ATO registered agent lodgement program. Your [tax agent](/technical-resources/glossary#tax-agent) confirms the fund’s actual date.
- Appoint an approved, ASIC-registered SMSF auditor **no later than 45 days before** the annual return is due — the audit must be finished before lodgement, because the return needs details from the audit report.
- An audit is required every year, even if the fund made no contributions and paid no benefits.
- Every asset must be valued at market value at 30 June, on objective and supportable evidence kept for the auditor. Those values drive members’ total super balances and pension minimums.
- Minimum pension payments (4% under 65, rising to 14% at 95 or more) must be **actually paid** by 30 June. Falling short generally means the fund cannot claim exempt current pension income for that whole year.
- All SMSFs report transfer balance events quarterly — within 28 days after the end of the quarter — regardless of member balances. No event in the quarter means no report.
- The SMSF supervisory levy is **$259** a year, paid in advance with the annual return ($518 on a new fund’s first return).
- New for 2026-27: [Division 296](/technical-resources/glossary#division-296) is law from 1 July 2026 for balances above $3 million, and the general [transfer balance cap](/technical-resources/glossary#transfer-balance-cap) was indexed to $2.1 million.
- Also new: from **10 August 2026**, where an [LRBA](/technical-resources/glossary#lrba) is used to acquire an asset that is **real property**, that asset must be **business real property** — a change made by the [Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026](https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2026A00049/asmade) to s 67A(2) of the SIS Act. It applies **only to arrangements entered into on or after that date**; existing arrangements are protected, and an SMSF buying property **without borrowing** is untouched.