If nobody in your self-managed superannuation fund (SMSF) receives a government pension allowance, you would be affected by the proposal to stop franking credit refunds, says Sam Henderson, who answers your questions on super.

Q: Hi Sam, in Your Questions in AFR Weekend, April 7-8 (How franking plan hits SMSF pension), you note the Bill Shorten proposal to stop the refund of unused franking credits "does not exclude those in account-based pension phase". My wife and I are in our 60s and commenced account-based pensions in 2013 following retirement from employment. Our self-managed superannuation fund is largely invested in equities/hybrids, thus we rely substantially on cash refunds of franking credits. Each of our account balances is below $1.6 million. We have never drawn a Centrelink full or part age pension and would be precluded from doing so by the assets test. In the same AFR Weekend paper, Joanna Mather's article (When $1 million is worth less than $500,000) says "Self-managed super funds with at least one member in receipt of a pension on or before March 28, 2018 were also quarantined". My apologies if I have missed something, but please clarify our franking credits position and comment on our strategy for the future. Stuart