Pension reporting

TBAR explained — Transfer Balance Account Report

When a member of your SMSF starts a retirement-phase pension, commutes one, or hits the $1.9m transfer balance cap, the ATO needs to know. The form they use is the Transfer Balance Account Report — TBAR for short.

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Worked example — Sarah starts an account-based pension

On 15 August 2025 Sarah, age 65, commences an account-based pension in her SMSF with a starting balance of $1,200,000. This is a 'credit' to her transfer balance account.

The event happened in Q1 of the financial year (Jul–Sep 2025), so the TBAR must be lodged by 28 October 2025. The fund reports: member TFN, event type (start of retirement-phase income stream), event date (15 Aug 2025), and value ($1,200,000).

Sarah's transfer balance account now sits at $1.2m, leaving $700,000 of her $1.9m cap available for future retirement-phase amounts. If she later commutes $200,000 back to accumulation, that commutation is a 'debit' and must also be lodged on a TBAR — by 28 days after the end of the quarter the commutation occurred.

Regular fortnightly or monthly pension payments to Sarah are NOT reported on a TBAR. Only structural events (starts, commutations, structured-settlement contributions, commutation authority responses) are.

  • All SMSFs lodge TBARs quarterly (since 1 July 2023) — 28 days after quarter end.
  • Only lodge when a reportable event happens — no nil returns required.
  • Tracks each member against the $1.9m transfer balance cap (2025–26).
  • Late lodgement can trigger excess transfer balance tax based on incomplete data.
  • easySMSF prepares and lodges every required TBAR as part of our fixed annual fee.

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