The Government needs to remove superannuation policy from the regular budgetary cycle to provide stability and help restore confidence in the system, an association believes.
The SMSF Association used its 2017 Budget submission to urge the Government to resist further changes to the system.
The association’s head of policy, Jordan George said stability for super should extend beyond tax settings and include broader issues such as ensuring that it was not used to fund first home deposits.
“Such proposals should be easily evaluated and assessed against strong and fit-for-purpose objectives for superannuation. On the other hand, sensible changes that improve the system and make it more efficient by reducing red-tape should meet the system’s objectives and be proceeded with,” he said.
“…The association believes it is essential that the Government commits to a period of stability for superannuation free of significant changes, especially concerning tax settings.
“This would allow superannuation funds and their members a period to ensure that they have the correct strategies in place to comply with the new rules and maximise their opportunities to build retirement savings.”
In its pre-election policy document, the FSC highlighted 15 priority reforms, with superannuation featuring prominently, urging both major parties to avoid changing super taxes without a comprehensive tax review.
The Grattan Institute has labelled the Australian super system as “too complicated” and has proposed a three-pronged reform strategy to simplify superannuation in retirement.
Super funds delivered a strong 2024 result, with the median growth fund returning 11.4 per cent, driven by strong international sharemarket performance, new data has shown.
Australian Ethical has seen FUM growth of 27 per cent in the financial year to date.