Myths, rumours and innuendo

With speculation rife in the media as to what’s to come in the Budget and with tax reform, we [Asteron Life] attempt to prepare you for what you can expect and look at the rumours

Mr Turnbull’s conditions for tax reform are that they:

have to drive growth and jobs, have to be fair and the complexity associated with them has to be justified in terms of a productivity output.

The government, in its response to the Murray Financial System Inquiry, pledged to develop and introduce legislation to enshrine the objective of the superannuation system by the end of 2016. The Treasurer, Scott Morrison, has said that the purpose of superannuation should be to reduce pressure on the age pension and the Government is intent on super not being used as means of building tax free inheritance pools.

What appears to be off the table is the increase in the GST to 15% and/or broadening of the base. As a result, changes to the following are rumoured or possible:

Retirement incomes:

limit of the amount of superannuation that can be rolled over to commence an income stream in retirement (APRA proposes $2.5 million)
review of minimum drawdown percentages from super income streams and reintroduction of maximum drawdown percentages
tax-free (including capital gains) earnings on super income streams (scrapped or capped at, for example, $100,000)
a portion of super benefits to be taken as an income stream

Super contributions including caps:

tax super contributions at marginal tax rates with a 15% rebate
reduction in contribution caps (Grattan Institute proposes annual concessional contributions cap of $11,000, and/or
lifetime cap on super contributions ($500,000 – $1 million cap on non-concessional contributions)
super guarantee (SG ) rate rise to 12% (Mr Turnbull has stated the government has “no plans to change the rise in compulsory super”)
compulsory super opt out by low income workers.

Tax:

personal and corporate tax cuts
halve the current 33% CGT discount for super funds
work expense tax deductions replaced with lower marginal tax rates
abolition of anti-detriment payments
negative gearing (possibly scrapped, limited to new housing only or cap on number of properties and deductible expenses)
general 50% CGT discount on assets held for more than 12 months (possibly reduce and extend to all investment income including rent, dividends and bank interest)
capital gains tax exemption on main residence capped at $2 million
dividend imputation
tax-free super from age 60
abolition of real estate stamp duty (replace with higher rates and land taxes).

Estate planning/tax strategies:

recontribution strategy
TTR/salary sacrifice – scrap or water down TTR (eg only allow compulsory super contributions and not salary sacrifice or introduce work test, account threshold)

SMSFs:

Mandated minimum balances in the range of $150-$250,000
Tightening of borrowing in SMSFs.
The Government’s challenge is to ensure that any reforms have the dual effect of increasing productivity and encouraging growth. There’s no doubt that there are some difficult decisions ahead.

Labor’s proposals:

Negative gearing to be limited to new housing from 1 July 2017. All prior investments grandfathered.
Reduce the CGT discount from 50% to 25% from 1 July 2017
Tax-free earnings up to $75,000 in pension phase (i.e. account balances over $1.5 million); 15% tax on earnings in excess of $75,000.
30% contributions tax for individuals with income of $250,000+.

What’s next?

The government is working to release a tax statement in early April that will outline its plans to fund income tax cuts primarily via changes to superannuation, negative gearing and workplace expenses.

The Federal Budget in May is likely to include concrete serious options for tax reform and will effectively be the white paper on tax reform. It is likely that further announcements will be made before then. We will provide further analysis as announcements are made.

Source: Asteron Life March 2016

This information is current as at March 2016 but may be subject to change.

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