Retarget super tax concessions, says ISA

Industry Super Australia (ISA) has sought to use new research to ramp up pressure on the Government to better target superannuation tax concessions away from upper income earners.

ISA chief executive, David Whiteley, has released the research claiming poorly targeted tax concessions are fuelling a 45 per cent super gap between men and women, and claimed that the current structure of tax concessions is out-dated and "catering to full-time breadwinners in high paying jobs".

"Fresh data from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) shows for the first time how superannuation tax breaks are not offering enough help to people who need it most, while enabling those with super-sized balances to accumulate even greater wealth," Whiteley said.

"We have a clear view of how the tax settings for super have failed to keep pace with the changing nature of work. The tax settings are a product of last century. They work very well for a full-time male breadwinner, but do a poor job of boosting the super of part-time workers — most of whom are women," he said.

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"We now know the super savings gap is further widened by poorly targeted tax concessions that favour full-time, high paid jobs. The 2016 Budget needs to address this yawning disparity," Whiteley said.

"ISA calls on all political parties to use the 2016 Budget to guarantee all Australians receive tax concessions on mandatory super savings through retaining the LISC [Low Income Superannuation Contribution] or an alternative. This can be achieved at no cost to the Budget by paring back billions in generous concessions for those with higher levels of super already," he said.

"This reform is a fair and rational policy response that would put the super system back on track to fulfill is objective of ensuring Australians are financially secure in retirement and reduce future pressure on the age pension."