Prime Minister Scott Morrison has labelled a proposal by the federal opposition to scrap franking credit refunds for SMSFs as “theft” and a raid on the savings of trustees.
In a video address to attendees at the SMSF Association National Conference 2019 in Melbourne, Morrison said: “We have a fight on our hands to protect SMSFs and your prosperity.”
He described the proposal as a “retirees’ tax” that would hit “hard-working Australian who have done the right thing and saved for retirement”.
“More than 900,000 individuals, 200,000 SMSFs, will be hit by Labor’s $5 billion a year retiree tax, and it’s theft,” he said.
He said the average SMSF could lose about $12,000 a year, adding: “This is a blatant cash grab by a Labor Party that can’t control their own budget, so they are going to come and raid yours.
“It will hit those who have taken responsibility to provide for their own retirement when they have shown they can’t control their own spending.”
The Prime Minister said many people affected by the proposal were on modest incomes and had expressed concerns about how they will pay their bills, adding “you all understand how unfair this tax grab is”.
“My view is clear. If you do the right thing, you should not be punished, and should not be used like the Labor Party is proposing,” he said.
