There hasn’t been a lot of change in the major policies of the liberal government since Tony Abbot was removed as prime minister. As the new PM, Malcolm Turnbull may have some superannuation taxation reform in the wings tho. It’s unclear if or how he would change superannuation taxation rules, or who such change would affect most.
Labour had proposed a “modest but unworkable” tax on superannuation accounts that earned more than $75,000 a year. It’s unclear how many superannuation accounts fall into this bracket, if the percentage is small it may be a costly and significant change to the tax base. It also smells of politics, simply stating the opposition is incompetent without proposing a worthwhile alternative.
Research conducted by the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia found that over 70,000 Australians had over $2.5 million in their superannation accounts. At even a modern interest rate, these 70,000 Australian could realistically be earning over $75,000 in investment returns on their existing superannuation balance, without making additional contributions.
Judith Sloan pointed out that the supposed $27 billion to be earned from changes to superannuation tax concessions is an unrealistic number.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have over $2,5000,000 prepared for retirement, what a first world problem to have.
You can find out more about the Association of Superannuation funds on twitter. Their website seems to be down unfortunately, but there are more AFSA here.
For more details read the latest news on the Australian
