Franking credit reform “fraught with danger”: IPA
The fuss about franking credit reform looks set to continue at least until the Federal election, with the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) today saying 95 per cent of its surveyed members did not support the change.
The Institute called the “piecemeal” approach to policy change both unfair and “fraught with danger”, and said that more self-funded retirees were becoming aware of the implications the reform would have on them.
“Any policy change that has inconsistent outcomes, [such as for] industry funds versus SMSFs and the pension guarantee rule, will struggle to meet the fairness test,” IPA chief executive, Andrew Conway, said. “In addition, retirees with large balances in excess of $1.6M in superannuation are also less impacted than those with lower balances.”
He called the reform suggested in the Henry review to tax personal savings across all asset classes as “a more holistic approach”, saying that this would be more beneficial than changing one lone aspect such as franking credits.
“We do not support any changes in the removal of refundable franking credits unless it is associated with more holistic tax changes to the treatment of savings more broadly,” Conway finished.
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