The Treasurer, Joe Hockey, has ruled out any changes to the superannuation tax regime in next Tuesday’s Federal Budget.
Hockey has made it clear that the Government will not be tinkering with the superannuation taxation settings in circumstances where superannuants and pensioners are having to deal with the effects of record low interest rates.
The Treasurer has told newsmen that while the record low interest rate setting announced by the Reserve Bank yesterday might be good news for some sections of the economy it was not good news for those on fixed incomes.
“So frankly, this is welcome news on a number of fronts,” he said, before adding that he wanted to emphasise that it was “going to be very hard for people who retire and rely on their savings being in the bank”.
“And that’s one of the reasons why the Government has decided that it is unacceptable to have any increases in taxation on superannuation in the upcoming Budget,” Hockey said.
“Because now is not the time to hit superannuants who are facing potentially many years of lower returns on their savings in bank accounts, and that’s weighed heavily on our consideration of a range of different issues.
“You cannot tax your way to prosperity, but also importantly, it’s only the Labor Party that wants to increase taxes on superannuation at exactly the wrong time, when returns are lower than they have been for some period of time for people who invest in bank accounts.”
