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Jeffrey Hutton is a Morningstar contributor

Contributions into self- managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) may come under pressure as lower contribution limits and the fear of landing huge tax penalties slow the rate of savings, dent inflows, a new survey from the Australian Tax Office (ATO) says.

The government has already halved the amount anyone under 50 can contribute into super at the concessional rate. From July it will make the concessional limit universal.

"It is anticipated that government initiative such as halving the caps on concessional contributions introduced from the year ended 30 June 2010 will slow the growth trend in member contributions," the ATO said in its most survey of the self managed super sector released in December.

The survey is a snap shot of the sector at the end of June 2009. Experts agree that the results may well be relevant today; trustees worry about blowing their caps, and relying too much on a few favoured asset classes such as cash, Australian equities and property.

"Holdings are becoming more concentrated," says MLC investment strategist Michael Karagianis.

"Investors suffer from a lack of diversity."

Take this scenario for example: You’ve just sold a property and you want to stash as much as you can into your self- managed superannuation fund. You take advantage of rules that allow you to bring forward three years of after tax contributions, letting you plough $450,000 into your superannuation -- the maximum amount.

All well and good. But little did you know a $1,000 insurance premium was lobbed into your super fund last financial year. Why is that a problem? Because you maxed out your after-tax limit then, too, of $150,000. That payment brought your total last year to $151,000.

Now the government is counting your three allowances from last year, not this one because the $1,000 payment triggered the bring-forward allowance. The 150,000, plus the $450,000 contribution and -- before we forget -- that troublesome $1,000 payment means you are $151,000 over your three year limit and the tax office wants a big piece of the surplus; 45.6 per cent of it, to be exact. That lands you extra tax bill of almost $70,000.

"We've see that kind of scenario a number of times," says Colonial First State senior technical manager Tim Sanderson.

"It shows the risk of going very close to your caps."

Since 2007 contributions from trustees as a percentage of total inflows has shrunk. Member contributions made up 84 per cent of contributions in 2007, 69 per cent in 2008 ad 63 per cent in 2009. Employer contributions have remained almost steady, the survey says.