The SMSF Association has welcomed the Government’s introduction of its superannuation legislation to Parliament as a step towards greater certainty for SMSF trustees and their advisers, says SMSF Association Managing Director/CEO Andrea Slattery.
“With the legislation introduced to Parliament, SMSF trustees and their advisers can have greater certainty in beginning to adjust their superannuation strategies where necessary as the 1 July 2017 start date for most of the superannuation changes looms.
“SMSF trustees affected by the law changes now have a clearer picture of where they stand and can access specialist SMSF advice to assist them going forward.”
She says that it was heartening to see that the Government had made a number of important technical adjustments to the legislation to reduce the complexity of the new legislation.
“Our Association advocated that there were a number of technical issues with the Government’s draft legislation and we are pleased that the Government has listened to the concerns of the SMSF sector.
“Improvements such as allowing recipients of reversionary pensions 12 months rather than the originally proposed 6 months to adjust their affairs for the new transfer balance cap and simplifying the capital gains tax relief provisions are welcomed.”
Slattery says that while the Government’s legislation has introduced a number of changes that limit the concessions for superannuation, there were a number of positive changes introduced as well.
“The changes allowing the carry forward of unused concessional contribution cap space and allowing all taxpayers to make deductible contributions to their superannuation are undoubtedly positives for the system.”
These changes greatly increase the flexibility for people contribution to super, especially for women who may have had broken work patterns, allowing greater opportunities to save for retirement,” she said.
