Legislation will see super ERFs head for the exit

The Government will introduce legislation early next year to allow trustees to voluntarily transfer any amount of inactive low balance accounts to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

A joint announcement by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Technology, Jane Hume, said the legislation would also require trustees to transfer all accounts below $6,000 by 30 June, 2020 and to transfer any remaining accounts still residing in an eligible rollover funds (ERFs) to the ATO by 30 June, 2021.

It said this legislation would help facilitate the exit of ERFs from the industry by 30 June, 2021 and would allow the ATO to reunite amounts it received from ERFs with their rightful owners sooner.

“While ERFs are subject to the Government’s Protecting Your Super (PYS) reforms which require them to transfer inactive low balance accounts to the ATO, they are unable to voluntarily transfer other amounts to the ATO which restricts their ability to exit the market,” the announcement said.

“These changes are another step forward in addressing the issue of unnecessary duplicate accounts in the superannuation system, lowering fees and charges, and are consistent with the Productivity Commission’s recommendation.”

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So far, the PYS reforms have helped the ATO reunite more than 2.13 million accounts worth about $2.79 billion with their owners.