Amendments were negotiated – The bill was passed
This year’s budget included changes to the Superannuation system. After some amendments were negotiated, the Bill was finally passed last week. Many of us will be affected by the changes.
The contribution limits will be reduced for next financial year. The Concessional (pre-tax) Cap has been reduced to $25,000. Currently, this cap is $30,000 and for those over 55 the cap is $35,000. There are catch up provisions for those with super balances below $500,000.
The non-concessional (post tax) cap has reduced to $100,000pa, down from $180,000pa. The bring forward provisions remain, allowing you to bring forward 2 year’s non-concessional contributions. The initial budget proposed a lifetime limit for non-concessional contributions of $500,000, this was not part of the final Bill.
A $1.6 million transfer cap has been introduced. This is now the maximum that can be transferred to pension phase (a tax-free environment). If a client is able to accumulate more than $1.6 million in superannuation the remainder can be maintained in the Super system.
A Tax deduction will now be able to be claimed for personal contributions regardless of whether you are self-employed.
The tax treatment of Transition To Retirement pensions has changed. The earnings are no longer tax exempt and will be treated the same as superannuation earnings. This will reduce the effectiveness of the Transition To Retirement strategy.
The income threshold for the spouse tax offset has increased from $10,800 to $37,200 making this strategy available to more people.
The threshold for the Division 293 tax has reduced from $300,000 to $250,000. This means that anyone earning over $250,000 will now have to pay an additional 15% tax on superannuation contributions.
These changes will make it difficult to “catch up” in the last few years before retirement, and puts a greater emphasis on planning for retirement as early as possible.
The new superannuation rules will influence a number of financial planning strategies; it would be prudent to contact your financial advisor to make sure that your current plan is still appropriate.