Government to proceed with legacy pension changes

The allocations and the commuted reserves would be taxed as an assessable contribution under the measure.

However, the two-year amnesty measure has remained in limbo following the change in government.

While the Labor government provided clarity on whether it would proceed with a range of measures proposed by the previous government, it was silent about the legacy pension measure.

Speaking at the SMSF Association National Conference, SMSF Association chief executive Peter Burgess said the association recently sought clarification from the Minister’s office on whether the government would proceed with this change.

“We have been told that they do intend to proceed with the changes to legacy pensions which is good news,” said Mr Burgess.

“So, we think they are going to proceed with these particular changes, it is not a policy reversal.”

Mr Burgess said the association is hoping to see something on the measure by the end of the calendar year.

“We may see a consultation paper released [on the measure] towards the end of the year.”

In a recent article, Accurium principal and senior actuary Melanie Dunn said the two-year amnesty is an important measure for those with legacy pensions given the complexity of these pensions.

“These pensions are not easily maintained within the current retirement framework primarily designed for account-based type income streams with complex rules for how the pensions are treated under the transfer balance cap, and how to access the remaining capital on death whilst minimising potentially significant tax implications,” said Ms Dunn.