Super tax concessions worth it - Costello
Former Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello says super tax concessions are worth the cost to the Budget.
The tax concessions granted to superannuation funds are justified and will lead to long term cost savings to the Commonwealth, according to former Federal Treasurer and chairman of the Future Fund board of guardians, Peter Costello.
Addressing the Association of Superannuation Funds Australia (ASFA) conference in Melbourne, Costello said that while the Treasury had valued the cost of the tax concessions at around $16 billion he believed they could be justified.
"They can be justified because the Government has the ability to claw that value back in savings to the cost of providing the age pension," he said.
The former Treasurer also pointed to the findings of the recent Commission of Audit report which had suggested that by 2050 around 80 per cent of Australians would still be on a full or part pension - something which underscored the benefits of superannuation.
Further, he said that even with the superannuation guarantee at 12 per cent, the number of people taken off the age pension would be very small.
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