Wilson Asset Management (WAM) chair and chief investment officer Geoff Wilson has vowed to continue advocating against the Labor Party’s proposal to remove franking credit refunds for a large number of SMSF trustees even if it wins the upcoming federal election.
In a letter to shareholders, Wilson said: “We know that this policy would cause significant pain to a great number of people without meaningful long-term savings to taxpayers. The risk with this policy is the impact it will have on the self-managed superannuation sector.”
Wilson said a petition organised by WAM and its campaign against Labor’s proposal had made the policy a key election issue and “ensured it had attracted the scrutiny it deserves.”
Additionally WAM confirmed it was conducting a survey to determine what changes investors would make if the ban was introduced and, as of 14 May, more than 3600 individuals had provided responses.
“Regardless of which political party wins the upcoming federal election, we hope that Labor abandons or drastically changes this inequitable policy,” Wilson said.
Pointing out the loopholes in the policy, Wilson noted Labor’s policy arbitrarily and unfairly targets modest self-funded retirees and low-income earners.
He said it will be difficult for the ALP to get this proposal through as a number of senators will look to block or at least amend the measure.
“I believe we are on track to win. Nine of the 10 crossbench senators have committed to blocking the changes if they reach the Senate and two have adopted our term for the policy – ‘retirement tax’,” Wilson revealed.
