Auditors have reported more than 40,000 breaches of the law involving self-managed super funds during the past 12 months, an increase of about 10 per cent over the previous year, says the Australian Taxation Office.

The surge in contraventions is being blamed on “heightened levels of financial stress” across the economy, including the impact of COVID-19, and renewed guidelines intended to beef up compliance of the $860 billion sector, it warns.