Powered by MOMENTUM MEDIA
Powered by momentummedia
nestegg logo

Retirement

Big super changes locked in: What they mean for investors

By Reporter
  • April 02 2019
  • Share

Retirement

Big super changes locked in: What they mean for investors

By Reporter
April 02 2019

The federal government has locked in some changes to superannuation ahead of the budget today, as it continues to throw out sweeteners in the lead up to the federal election.

Big super changes locked in: What they mean for investors

author image
By Reporter
  • April 02 2019
  • Share

The federal government has locked in some changes to superannuation ahead of the budget today, as it continues to throw out sweeteners in the lead up to the federal election.

Josh Frydenberg

Australians approaching retirement will be able to make voluntary superannuation contributions without meeting the work test.

The work test currently mandates that Australians can only make voluntary contributions if they work a minimum of 40 hours over a 30-day period.

The measure makes getting money into superannuation, which is concessionally taxed, more flexible for those aged 65 and 66.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said there are around 55,000 Australians aged 65 and 66 who will benefit from this reform in 2020-21.

Josh Frydenberg

Changes to age limits

The government has also announced it will change the age limit for spouse contributions from 69 to 74 years.

Currently, those aged 70 years and over cannot receive contributions made by another person on their behalf.

“We will also extend access to the bring-forward arrangements, which currently allow those aged less than 65 years to make three years’ worth of non-concessional contributions, which are capped at $100,000 a year, to their super in a single year. This will now be extended to those aged 65 and 66,” said Mr Frydenberg.

What else will be in the budget tonight?

As the Liberal Party heads into election mode, ahead of a likely early May election, various tax sweeteners are on the table for this evening’s budget.

For example, a reduction of marginal tax rates or an increase in the marginal rate thresholds are looking as very likely outcomes.

“While individual tax cuts could be seen as being election sweeteners, there are also good reasons to give individual tax cuts right now. These reasons include the reversal of bracket creep caused by inflation,” said BDO national tax director Lance Cunningham.

“There is a good argument that the reduction of individual taxes could give a boost to GDP as it would provide more disposable income for households to spend. The alternative to increase GDP is to promote the increase of wages, but unless there is a corresponding increase in productivity, this could be counterproductive by increasing inflation. Therefore, the reduction of the individual tax rates may be the better option,” he said.

You can read more about this here.

Forward this article to a friend. Follow us on Linkedin. Join us on Facebook. Find us on X for the latest updates
Rate the article

more on this topic

more on this topic

More articles