The number of First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSSS) payments has more than tripled since the initiative commenced on 1 July 2018, with more than $400 million being released to individuals, according to ATO data.
The scheme, which allows superannuation fund members to make concessional and non-concessional contributions to save for a first home and withdraw up to $50,000 for its purchase, had 12,500 release requests in the 2022 financial year, with payments made to 9500 individuals totalling $141.7 million.
In comparison, during the first year of the scheme (2018/19), 4200 requests were received with payments to 3200 individuals totalling $38.9 million.
Those numbers increased by just over two times in 2019/20 with 8300 requests, 7000 payments and $92.9 million paid before a further increase to 12,100 requests in 2020/21 with payments to 9900 people totalling 141.6 million.
Collectively, 37,100 requests have been made, with payments to 29,600 individuals totalling $415.1 million, according to the ATO figures, which are current until mid-August 2022.
The statistics also showed that across the four financial years since the scheme started, around one-third of superannuation release requests came from those aged 26 to 30, followed by those aged 31 to 35 (28 per cent of requests) and those aged 36 to 40 (16 per cent of requests).
Requests from those aged 41 to 45, 46 to 50 and 51 and over collectively increased marginally from 11 per cent in 2018/19 to 15 per cent in 2021/22, while requests from those aged 25 and under averaged around 10 per cent across the same time period.
The figures also revealed those on taxable income of $45,001 to $120,000 accounted for 8040 requests, or 65 per cent, of all requests received in 2021/22, while those on taxable income of $18,201 to $45,000 made 2110, or 17 per cent, of requests received in that year.
Under the scheme, fund members can apply to have a maximum of $15,000 of voluntary contributions from any one financial year included in eligible contributions to be released under the FHSSS with a total of $50,000 contributions across all years available to them including any earnings that relate to those contributions.
At the commencement of the scheme, the total figure was set at $30,000, but was increased to $50,000 in early 2022 under the same legislation that removed the work test and extended the non-concessional contribution bring-forward rules for superannuation fund members aged between 67 and 75.
