Super saver scheme to benefit wealthy, says consultant
One consultant expects that wealthy Australians will gain the most advantage from the First Home Super Saver Scheme while the overall take-up from first home buyers will be marginal.
Reece Agland & Associates principal Reece Agland has said that while few people will take advantage of the First Home Super Saver Scheme, it will be mainly the wealthy who can afford to give their children money towards a house.
“From my discussions with younger people, they just don't have those savings there to put into super — it's great if they do have that, but a lot of them don't. The cost of living so high in Australia at the moment, that they just don't have the spare cash,” said Mr Agland.
“The people who might be able to take advantage of it are wealthy people who can give their kids some money and the kids can then put that money into their super. I don't think that was the intent of the legislation.”
Mr Agland said this is what mostly happened with the First Home Saver Account initiative from the government, where the government made extra contributions for amounts that deposited into the account.
“The only people that could really do that were the wealthy so it didn't really work out,” he said.
“You've got to question whether the First Home Super Saver Scheme is really worth it for the complications that it's going to cause in the system.”
Mr Agland said he expects there will be a lot of difficulties in administering the system, especially for super funds themselves.
“I think a lot of [the industry] might put it off to see if it’s taken up by anyone because it’s going to be quite complicated for them to set those amounts aside and the earnings aside, and then attribute those amounts so they can be taken out again,” he said.
“You've got to question is it worth their while to do that if not many people are going to take it up?”
The First Home Super Saver Tax Bill, which sets out the details of the scheme, is currently before the House of Representatives.
Miranda Brownlee
Miranda Brownlee is the deputy editor of SMSF Adviser, which is the leading source of news, strategy and educational content for professionals working in the SMSF sector.
Since joining the team in 2014, Miranda has been responsible for breaking some of the biggest superannuation stories in Australia, and has reported extensively on technical strategy and legislative updates.
Miranda also has broad business and financial services reporting experience, having written for titles including Investor Daily, ifa and Accountants Daily.
