The Coalition Government, which has now officially returned, can now focus once again on the self-managed super funds (SMSF) measures which it introduced initially into parliament before the election.
According to Peter Burgess, SuperConcepts general manager, many of these measures might be re-introduced into parliament even early next month.
““On the table are the measures announced in this year’s Federal budget to encourage older Australia’s to contribute to super, as well as the super measures announced in previous federal budgets which had not been passed by the parliament at the time the election was called,” he said.
These would include the superannuation guarantee opt-out rules for high incoming earnings individuals with multiple employers, changes to the definition of NALI and changes to the calculation of a member’s TSB if they entered into a LBRA and whether they satisfied a CoR or the loan was a related party loan, he said.
“With a possible outright majority in the lower house and a slightly less hostile senate, we may even see the re-emergence of the Government’s proposal to increase the maximum number of SMSF members from four to six,” Burgess said.
The impact of identity theft and its threat to superannuation savings were highlighted in a case that went before the Federal Court at the end of 2023.
A recent NSW Supreme Court decision is an important reminder that while super funds may be subject to restrictive superannuation and tax laws, in essence they are still a trust and subject to equitable and common law claims, says a legal expert.
New research from the University of Adelaide has found SMSFs outperformed APRA funds by more than 4 per cent in 2021–22.
The SMSF Association has made a number of policy recommendations for the superannuation sector in its pre-budget submission to the government.