{"id":6224,"date":"2016-05-16T17:23:48","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T07:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/?p=6224"},"modified":"2020-10-29T17:49:11","modified_gmt":"2020-10-29T06:49:11","slug":"liberals-v-labor-different-election-outcomes-mean-smsf-pensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dbalawyers.com.au\/announcements\/liberals-v-labor-different-election-outcomes-mean-smsf-pensions\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberals v Labor: what different election outcomes could mean for SMSF pensions"},"content":{"rendered":"
Disclaimer: The following is based on my view of materials publicly available as at the date of writing (16 May 2016). I suspect that when more details become known about both parties\u2019 policies, some comments could become redundant.<\/div>\n

Australia votes on 2 July 2016 and never before has so much superannuation policy turned on one election. A Liberal victory could mean very different things than a Labor victory.<\/p>\n

In this article, I explore some of the ins and outs of each party\u2019s announced policies.<\/p>\n

\"Liberals<\/div>\n

Labor<\/h3>\n

The policy<\/em><\/p>\n

Labor has been consistent with their policies for superannuation (including SMSF) pensions. Its position is as follows:<\/p>\n

\u2026 reduce the tax-free concession available to people with annual superannuation incomes from earnings of more than $75,000. From 1 July 2017, future earnings on assets supporting income streams will be tax\u2011free up to $75,000 a year for each individual. Earnings above the $75,000 threshold will attract the same concessional rate of 15 per cent that applies to earnings in the accumulation phase<\/p>\n

\u2026 capital gains will be grandfathered \u2026<\/p>\n

The drawbacks<\/em><\/p>\n

The key drawback I feel is that the above could be very difficult to implement for those with pensions from multiple funds. For example, consider an individual who receives pensions from two superannuation funds. The earnings from the assets supporting the first pension in the first fund might total $60,000. The earnings from the assets supporting the second pension in the second fund might also total $60,000. Accordingly, total earnings (ie, $60,000 + $60,000 = $120,000) exceed the $75,000 threshold by $45,000. This raises a tricky question: in which fund is the $45,000 excess subject to tax?<\/p>\n

I suspect that the most practical way of dealing with this problem is as follows. I stress that this is only what I suspect what would happen. Again, I have no special inside information.<\/p>\n