With Parliament now having risen for the Christmas/New Year break, there remains a whole raft of Bills that are yet to pass both houses that play a significant role across superannuation and SMSF reforms.
The table below outlines a range of announcements and measures that remain unresolved at the end of 2018.
| Matter | Status |
| Directions and penalties in relation to super guarantee charge and with various disclosure, reporting and other measures to strengthen compliance for SG obligations.
Reversionary TRIS amendments |
Passed in the Senate, however Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Measures No. 4) Bill 2018 requires a number of changes in the Bill (non-superannuation related) which must return to the House of Representatives to be passed before receiving Royal Assent.
|
| Amnesty for super guarantee
Changes to super rules for employees with multiple employers Amendment to NALI provisions for super funds Changes to LRBAs for TSB purposes
|
Treasury Laws Amendment (2018 Superannuation Measures No. 1) Bill 2018 remains in the Senate (since 25 June 2018). |
| Work test exemption for recent retirees
|
Following consultation that simplified these measures, Treasury Laws Amendment (Work Test Exemption) Regulations 2018 have now been made by the Federal Executive Council to amend the SIS Regulation from 1 July 2019 to provide an extra year to contribute to superannuation (where a member’s TSB <$300k).
|
| Correcting debit value on commutation of a Market Linked Pension as a CDBIS.
Rollover of super death benefits (15% tax on untaxed element upon rollover)
|
The Assistant Treasurer announced new technical changes to address the anomalies within the legislation to fix these issues – Retirement income covenant and ensuring a fair and effective superannuation system.
No draft legislation has been issued as yet, however the ATO did release CRT Alert 066/2018 in response to this matter for Market Linked Pensions.
|
| Increase of SMSF membership from 4 to 6
|
No draft legislation has been provided in respect to this proposal since the announcement by the former Minister for Revenue & Financial Services, Kelly O’Dwyer on ‘Cutting red-tape for self-managed superannuation funds.’
|
| 3-year SMSF Audit cycle
|
Following closure of the Treasury consultation on 31 August 2018, no draft legislation has yet been issued for this proposal to commence from 1 July 2019.
|
| LRBA review by Council of Financial Regulators
|
Following on from the Financial Systems Inquiry (FSI), the Government announced a review into LRBAs approximately 3 years later. This was underway with a report expected back to Government before the end of the year.
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Note that Parliament will now resume on 12 February 2019, with only a limited number of sitting days (7) before the Federal Budget which has been brought forward to Tuesday, 2 April 2019. The Federal Election will follow thereafter in May 2019. Remembering, that once an election is called, any legislation that has not been passed in both houses effectively becomes withdrawn and would need to be re-introduced by the new Government.
This all leads to a very interesting start to 2019!
