Rice Warner calls for withdrawal values to be slashed
Rice Warner has called on the government to reduce the current level of minimum withdrawal values by 25 per cent to 50 per cent, in a bid to allow members to defer drawdowns during periods of market downturns.
In its pre-budget submission for 2016, Rice Warner said deferral of withdrawals will assist the retirement benefit to last for a longer period during retirement.
Rice Warner has also called on the government to change the tax rate payable on the death of a pensioner without dependants to be a flat 15 per cent plus Medicare, equalling 17 per cent in total.
“This would eliminate recontribution strategies, which simply avoid tax,” Rice Warner stated.
Rice Warner has also called on the government to consider imposing a lifetime cap on non-concessional contributions of $500,000.
The firm noted this is a “considerable reduction” from the current allowance of $180,000 per year.
The government should also consider re-evaluating the transition to retirement pension structure, Rice Warner added.
“These favour high-income earners even though they were intended to help middle-income Australians ‘catch up’ their superannuation later in their careers,” the company said.
Rice Warner has also reiterated calls to allow employers to pay additional superannuation contributions for their female employees.
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