The superannuation sector risks being the victim of a deceitful and incomplete debate around tax reform, according to participants involved in a roundtable conducted by Money Management’s sister publication, Super Review.
The roundtable, conducted during the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds (CMSF) in Adelaide, was told that the superannuation sector had entered into discussion about the superannuation settings predicated on it being part of a broader taxation debate, but had been left as the most likely victim of the May Budget.
EISS Super chief executive, Alex Hutchison told the roundtable that tinkering with tax would not fix the tax system.
“However all the tax options have been knocked off [the table] and we’re still messing about with superannuation,” he said.
Willis Towers Watson head of Retirement Income Solutions, Nick Callil agreed stating that the tax debate was supposed to be a structured process but had not worked out that way.
“The intention may have been correct but it hasn’t worked out that way and we’re the last one with our chins out,” he said.
Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) chief executive, Tom Garcia said he was concerned at the manner in which the Budget process had become so speculative and suggested it represented an exercise in which the Government was probing to find what might pass muster.
He said it meant the superannuation industry was being forced to respond to things.
“They’re just trying to find money and hopefully, via the super objectives, we will find a way to say we’re only going to do this once every five years,” Garcia said.
Hutchison said that the intense speculation around superannuation in the lead-up to the Budget had served to unite the major superannuation bodies — the AIST, the Financial Services Council (FSC) and the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia but the panel agreed this represented no guarantee that no adverse changes would be announced in the Budget.
