The ATO has confirmed trustees will have to ensure proper protocols are followed when using electronic signatures to approve SMSF financial statements.

Making permanent changes to federal laws to allow electronically signed digital trust deeds will only assist SMSFs when all the states implement similar changes.

Having original documents may be the only acceptable way of proving SMSF trust deed variations have been properly executed, a specialist lawyer has said.

Corporate trustees can still execute deeds electronically after the government extended measures exempting them from having to do so face to face using ink and paper.