Any further changes to the SMSF landscape need to be considered in relation to the overall objective of superannuation, a KPMG director has said.
KPMG enterprise director Julie Dolan said any proposed changes should be assessed against the main objective of superannuation to “provide income in retirement to substitute or supplement the age pension”.
Citing changes to the industry resulting from the super reforms in 2016 and the recent battle over franking credit refunds in the run-up to the federal election, Dolan said the industry would be “relieved” no new changes were proposed for the immediate future.
She pointed to the work involved in implementing and administering the “historic number of changes” that were part of the Simpler Super reforms, adding the SMSF sector would welcome a period of relative stability.
“To regain trust and stability in the industry, a long-term view needs to be taken. This is further substantiated from the recent findings coming out of the financial services royal commission, Productivity Commission and APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) reports,” she said in a NewsRoom blog post on the KPMG website.
“After many years of political turmoil in Australia and the desire of Australians for stable leadership, let’s hope that the Morrison-led coalition party will deliver this much-needed requirement.”
She pointed out that while Prime Minister Scott Morrison guaranteed “no new taxes on superannuation” during the election campaign, the coalition had still announced a few minor changes to superannuation in the 2019/20 budget.
These changes include:
- an extension of the bring-forward rules for those aged 65 and 66,
- the removal of the work test to allow voluntary superannuation contributions for those aged 65 and 66, and
- a change to the calculation of exempt current pension income.
Despite acknowledging Labor’s proposed abolition of franking credit refunds as “a point of contention” between both parties responsible for rattling the industry, she said each side of the argument had merit, referring to comments made by KPMG colleague Damian Ryan.
