Do Coalition backbenchers know what a tax rort looks like?

26 June 2020

| By Rollover |

Rollover will be very interested to see whether the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) ever actually audits the Government’s hardship early release superannuation regime to see whether, as some claim, it has been the subject of numerous rorts.

Now Rollover is prepared to believe that a significant number of those who applied for early access to up to $10,000 over recent months were facing genuine hardship, but he has seen plenty of evidence that the superannuation money has not always been needed or well-expended.

He notes a recent social media question: “If I withdraw $10,000 from my superannuation (tax free) then salary sacrificed $10,000 (also tax free) to go back into my super. I’d then stand to profit $2,500? Is that right? Or am I missing something?”

What the questioner is missing is the possibility that such a scheme will be picked up in an ATO audit but, then again, perhaps not.

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As a certain cohort of Coalition backbenchers keep saying “its your money” but, on the other hand, it’s the Government’s tax regime and it’s the ATO’s job to ensure it is not rorted.

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The Rollover

Rollover is a jaded hack who joined the staff of Super Review nearly two decades’ ago and never managed to summon the energy to leave. Known throughout the superannuation industry as a power-luncher and gossip, Rollover spends his time humouring fund managers, eavesdropping at conferences, dozing through briefings and looking for his next free meal.

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I'm sure they do - as most of them execute their own rorts constantly!

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