In the 2013 Federal Budget, the government announced a pilot program to assist senior Australians to downsize to a home more suitable to their needs without reducing their Age Pension entitlements. According to the Budget papers, “from 1 July 2014, senior Australian homeowners who have owned … [Read more...]
In April 2013, the federal government announced that it intends to establish a Council of Superannuation Custodians. This Council will monitor a proposed Charter of Superannuation Adequacy and Sustainability, and assess future superannuation policy against this Charter. The Council will then report … [Read more...]
The federal government will be introducing a temporary concessional cap for over-60s from 1 July 2013, which will also apply to over-50s from 1 July 2014. Draft legislation has been prepared for this change. The government will be introducing an unindexed cap of $35,000 for over 60s (from 1 July … [Read more...]
Due to a budget blowout caused by “an over-hang from the global financial crisis and strong Australian dollar”, the federal government has informally announced (drip fed via a series of casual comments in various interviews) that the income tax cuts, that were to take effect from 1 July 2015, … [Read more...]
Q: Do you need to be 60 at July 1 or could you turn 60 any time in 2013/2014 to take advantage of the new $35,000 cap? A: For the benefit of other readers, I will first explain the background to the new over-60s cap. On 5 April 2013, the federal government announced that it will be introducing an … [Read more...]
The National Disability Insurance Scheme is going to become a reality with a guaranteed financial contribution sourced directly from taxpayers, and promised contributions from the states of Australia. Bravo to the federal government, state governments and to the individuals and organisations who … [Read more...]
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced a 0.5% increase in the Medicare levy to help fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) – but Labor will not bring in legislation for the higher tax this term. The Prime Minister said the extra tax would represent about $1 a day for someone … [Read more...]
We have received a lot of emails from readers who have expressed their frustration at the unfairness of the proposed pension tax on earnings above $100,000 a year, although a small minority have supported the tax. The common theme for the majority is that many Australians sacrificed and worked … [Read more...]
The excess contributions tax regime has been, and continues to be a total disaster. The federal government has cared very little about the fact that conscientious super savers, who made every attempt to the follow the rules, were being hit with outrageous tax bills, savaging hard-earned retirement … [Read more...]
On 5 April 2013, the federal government announced that it proposes to extend the deeming rules for Age Pension income test, so they apply to new superannuation pensions, from 1 January 2015. According to the government, all products held by pensioners before 1 January 2015 will be grandfathered … [Read more...]
On 5 April 2013, the federal government announced that it intended to introduce a new tax on superannuation pension earnings above $100,000, taking effect from 1 July 2014. You can find the background to this proposed change in our SuperGuide article New tax on pension earnings over $100,000. If … [Read more...]
Note: This list of Q&As was created on 15 April, and will be updated and extended periodically. We will include the date of any future update in this note. An important consideration when reading these Q&As is that the proposed new tax is not yet law, and probably won’t become law until … [Read more...]
On 5 April 2013, federal treasurer Wayne Swan, and Minister for financial services and superannuation, Bill Shorten announced a bucket of changes to the existing super arrangements. This article is a summary of the announced changes, and you can find more detail on the proposed changes in separate … [Read more...]
Note: STOP PRESS – see related SuperGuide article 2013 Federal Election: new super changes summary (April 2013) for additional federal government superannuation announcements. SuperGuide will keep you regularly updated on the superannuation policies announced by the major political parties, … [Read more...]
If your superannuation pension earns more than $100,000 a year in earnings then expect to be hit with 15% tax on your pension earnings above $100,000. The threshold applies to each individual rather than to each pension/income stream. In a special media conference, held on 5 April 2013, federal … [Read more...]
