Self-funded retirees are being discriminated against by the Labor Party, which confirmed on Friday that it would abolish franking credit rebates from 1 July 2019, but that its policies relating to capital gains tax and negative gearing would not be introduced until 1 January 2020, according to the SMSF Association (SMSFA).
The SMSFA, which had always opposed the Labor Party’s franking credit proposal, said the policy had left many of those in APRA-regulated funds untouched, which was a “clear violation of the sound policy principle of horizontal equity”.
SMSFA chief executive, John Maroney, said Labor was taking discrimination to a “new level”, and gave those affected by its CGT and negative gearing proposals time to adjust their investment strategies but denied self-funded retirees the same option.
“That these retirees will not have the certainty of legislation to allow them to restructure their affairs and, in many instances, be severely financially disadvantaged because of it, is simply unjust,” said Maroney.
“Now they are not only having their self-sufficiency taken away but are being given no opportunity to find alternative strategies for their retirement savings.”
