Written

For

The

Australian

-

Veteran

SMSF

operator

Giuseppe

Coronica

disqualified

after

hitting

trouble

with

ATO

Fifty years of accounting experience, a Fellow of CPA Australia, and yet still banned from running his own self-managed super fund. If that doesn't grab your attention as an SMSF trustee, nothing will.

The case of Giuseppe Coronica is essentially a masterclass in what not to do inside an SMSF, and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal's 45-page decision confirming his disqualification should be required reading for anyone thinking their DIY super gives them a free pass on the rules.

Coronica's issues were extensive. He transferred shares of his private company into his SMSF for $100,000, when the market value was clearly much higher. Over the following six years, the fund pocketed $210,000 in dividends and $90,000 in franking credits, all taxed at 15 per cent rather than his marginal rate. The AAT called it "gaming the system" and found he breached the sole purpose test — the fundamental principle that super exists for retirement benefits, not tax minimisation.

Then there were the related-party loans, the in-house asset limit breaches, livestock proceeds deposited into his personal account, and bare trust arrangements around property deals that fell foul of Section 71 of the SIS Act. All up, the AAT identified 26 regulatory contraventions across two periods.

Here's what strikes me. Coronica argued he wasn't a future compliance risk and had an otherwise unblemished record. The regulator disagreed, and the courts backed the ban. In 2023 alone, the ATO disqualified 753 trustees and issued $29m in fines. Experience and professional qualifications don't insulate you.

The lesson for the roughly 1.1 million Australians with money in SMSFs — where average balances are now approaching $1.5m — is simple. Being your own trustee means being accountable for every transaction. Get a proper team around you: a financial adviser, a competent fund accountant, and an independent auditor. It's cheaper than the alternative.