Hi Wombat,Apart from following several established steps...

Hi Wombat,

Apart from following several established steps required in establishing a SMSF pension, ie. SMSF member requests pension, SMSF assessment and resolution to commence the pension, updating SMSF accounts to the date of commencemnt of pension, SMSF acknowledging SMSF member request and issue of SMSF pension commencement notice etc. In acknowledging your request for SMSF pension request, the SMSF shall request for instructions from the member regarding how much they would like to receive under the TTR by way of a Payment Request form, details of how they would like to be paid and a TFN declaration form to be completed, the SMSF may need to register for PAYG witholding with the ATO if the member is under 60 years old( like in your case, being 55 years).

Since you are utilising the pre-retirement pension provisions, then

1. a separate accumulation account(for the contributions) need to be established,( this you have done ) and
2. the SMSF TTR pension account will need to be maintained during each financial year( this you have done as well).

The treatment of the funds to be witheld under the PAYG system is as spelt out in the PAYG Payment Summary from ATO that you should have completed and submitted, which reads as follows:

"INFORMATION FOR PAYEES
============================

Under the pay as you go (PAYG) withholding system, your superannuation fund or payer withholds amounts from certain types of payments made to you and sends these withheld amounts to the Tax Office.

Your superannuation fund or payer must also provide you with a payment summary each year that shows the details of the payments made to you and the amounts withheld during the year.

If this payment summary shows that tax has been withheld, you need to lodge an income tax return with the Tax Office for the year shown on the payment summary. If no tax is withheld, you may still have to lodge a tax return.
If you need to lodge an income tax return, a credit for the tax withheld, shown on this payment summary, will reduce any liability raised in your assessment."

Hope this helps.

dascore