POWERED BY MOMENTUM MEDIA
$450 super threshold removed
As part of a key commitment in the Budget, the Government has introduced a bill to remove the $450 per month income threshold for superannuation payments.
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Enhancing superannuation outcomes for Australians and helping Australian businesses invest) Bill 2021 also aimed to improve flexibility for those preparing for retirement, support more Australians to own their first home, and help Australian businesses invest.
The bill would also reduce costs and simplified reporting for self-managed superannuation funds (SMSF) and small Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) regulated funds.
The bill’s announcement by the minister for superannuation, financial services, and the digital economy, Jane Hume, said the removal of the $450 threshold improved equity in the super system and increased the economic security of women in retirement.
On the First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSSS) the bill allowed the maximum voluntary contribution people were allowed to release from $30,000 to $50,000 to put down as a first home deposit.
The eligibility age to make downsizer contributions into superannuation would reduce from 65 to 60 years of age to allow more older Australians to consider downsizing to a home that better suited their needs in a bid to free up the stock of larger homes for younger families.
The bill also preserved the work test for personal deductible contributions made by individuals aged between 67 and 75. It would also make amendments necessary to allow eligible individuals to make non concessional superannuation contributions under the bring forward rule. This would improve flexibility for older Australians to contribute to their superannuation.
Trustees would now be able to use their preferred method of calculating exempt current pension income where the fund is fully in the retirement phase for part of the income year but not for the entire income year.
The announcement said the changes would commence from 1 July, 2022.
Recommended for you
Superannuation funds have posted another year of strong returns, but this time, the gains weren’t powered solely by Silicon Valley.
Australia’s $4.1 trillion superannuation system is doing more than funding retirements – it’s quietly fuelling the nation’s productivity, lifting GDP, and adding thousands to workers’ pay packets, according to new analysis from the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA).
Large superannuation accounts may need to find funds outside their accounts or take the extreme step of selling non-liquid assets under the proposed $3 million super tax legislation, according to new analysis from ANU.
Economists have been left scrambling to recalibrate after the Reserve Bank wrong-footed markets on Tuesday, holding the cash rate steady despite widespread expectations of a cut.
TOP PERFORMING FUNDS
ACS FIXED INT - AUSTRALIA/GLOBAL BOND
Fund name
3y(%)pa
1
DomaCom 465 Calder Road Calder
99.46 3 y p.a(%)
2
DomaCom DFS Mortgage
95.46 3 y p.a(%)
3
Global X 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
78.55 3 y p.a(%)
4
BetaShares Crypto Innovators ETF
50.39 3 y p.a(%)
5
Global X GlobalX FANG+ ETF
47.50 3 y p.a(%)
