The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has revealed the degree to which the Government’s Budget superannuation changes are already impacting planners and their clients, with enquiries around non-concessional caps having recorded a significant spike.
The ATO’s deputy commissioner, superannuation, James O’Halloran, has signalled the tax office was likely to need to significantly upgrade its resourcing to cope with inquiries around the Budget changes to superannuation, even though there were question marks over whether they would actually pass the Parliament.
He told an SMSF Association conference that people wanted information in relation to superannuation contributions made to funds by members and that the level of interest was growing.
“We have already seen some examples of these increased expectations emerging with respect to the announcement of the $500,000 lifetime cap for non-concessional contributions,” O’Halloran said. “Since the announcement on budget night we have received an increase in enquiries either from individuals or tax professionals on behalf of their clients for calculations of non-concessional contributions. To date we have received some 8,000 phone calls or written requests which, while a relatively small number given some nine million calls to the ATO annually, is a spike in interest which is likely to continue.”
Revealing the level of investment likely to be required of the ATO in dealing with the Budget changes, O’Halloran said it was evident the ATO would need to progressively move to service and monitor account balances and how they needed to be managed.
“It is clear that emerging administrative design principles for us will include a recognition and understanding of the expectations of early advice and ideally improved visibility on superannuation information and advice from which people can make informed decisions and ensure they can comply with any legislative changes or consequences for their individual investment decisions,” he said.
“We do also recognise that advisers and clients will expect to be able to see in as timely way as possible how they are tracking towards the range of ‘caps’ and timing issues which may impact on their ability to access various concessions and to avoid excess contribution penalties.”
