Super bills tabled in Federal Parliament

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Improving Accountability and Member Outcomes in Superannuation Measures No. 2) Bill 2017 entered the House of Representatives yesterday and is aimed at improving choice for members and the integrity of salary sacrifice arrangements.

The bill amends the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992 (SGAA) to ensure that employees under workplace determinations or enterprise agreements have an opportunity to choose the superannuation fund for their compulsory employer contributions.

If passed, the measure will apply to new workplace determinations and enterprise agreements made on or after 1 July 2018.

The bill also removes a loophole from the legislation that allows unscrupulous employers to use their employee’s salary sacrifice contributions to pay their own superannuation guarantee (SG) obligations and ensures that SG is paid on a pre-salary sacrifice base.

The government also introduced the Superannuation (Excess Non-concessional Contributions Tax) Amendment (National Disability Insurance Scheme Funding) Bill 2017, which increases the superannuation excess non-concessional contributions tax from the current rate of 47 per cent up to 47.5 per cent for the 2019-20 financial year and later financial years.

The third bill that was introduced, the Superannuation (Excess Untaxed Roll-over Amounts Tax) Amendment (National Disability Insurance Scheme Funding) Bill 2017, makes changes to the rate at which excess untaxed roll-over amounts are taxed.

The bill amends the Superannuation (Excess Untaxed Roll-over Amounts Tax) Act 2007 to increase the rate at which excess untaxed roll-over amounts tax is payable on an individual’s excess untaxed roll-over amounts from 47 per cent to 47.5 per cent.