Australians who have downsized their homes have injected $1 billion into superannuation over the past year, according to the federal government, with average contributions around three-quarters of the maximum allowable amount.
The figures were released by Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar, who said since the downsizer measure commenced on 1 July 2018, 4246 people had made use of it and contributed an overall $1 billion into their superannuation funds.
Based on those figures, the average contribution into superannuation under the measure was $235,515 per person, or 78 per cent of the $300,000 that could be added to super from the sale of a primary residential property.
Other data released by Sukkar, who is also Minister for Housing, revealed 55 per cent of contributions were made by women and people in every state and territory used the measured, but 81 per cent of contributions came from the eastern states of New South Wales (31 per cent), Victoria (26 per cent) and Queensland (24 per cent).
The initiative was announced in the 2017/18 budget and contributions under the measure are not considered a non-concessional contribution nor are they included in contributions caps.
In other budget-related announcements, Assistant Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Financial Technology Jane Hume said the government was proceeding with its plans to defer the extension of SuperStream to SMSF rollovers from 30 November 2019 to 31 March 2021.
The move was first announced in April as part of the 2019/20 budget, but further action was not taken at that time due to the calling of the election.
On 2 July, parliament returned for the first time since the election, with Senator Hume confirming the government would proceed with the timetable outlined in April.
She said the SuperStream changes will improve the way superannuants interact with the superannuation system, reduce costs and improve the efficiency of the system, and regulations that give effect to the deferral will be made as soon as practicable.
In response to Hume’s announcement, the ATO made little comment apart from stating: “We will continue to engage with our established co-design group on these changes.”
