Concern on fate of ALP’s pension earnings tax
Self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) specialist Aaron Dunn has questioned whether the newly-elected Abbott Government can afford not to proceed with some of the former Labor Government's Budget measures which directly impact revenue.
In an analysis of the likely impacts on superannuation flowing from Saturday's election outcome, Dunn particularly pointed to the former Government's announcement that it would move to tax pension earnings in excess of $100,000.
He said that while the tax measure was only a policy commitment, it had been calculated into the forward estimates.
"Communication I have received suggests it is likely to proceed given revenue is budgeted for; however, one would expect a lot of water to go under the bridge before this appears in a workable format," Dunn said.
At the time the former Minister for Financial Services, Bill Shorten joined with former Treasurer, Wayne Swan, to announce the move to tax pension earnings in excess of $100,000, the Coalition criticised the move as injecting more uncertainty into the retirement equation by tinkering with the underlying tax settings.
While the Coalition has indicated it intends to address a number of superannuation-related issues, including lifting concessional contribution caps, it has acknowledged that this cannot occur until it has significantly reduced the Budget deficit.
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