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Super wars

This Month

House price valuations relative to incomes are at record highs. 

Banks ‘at risk’ from superannuation cyberattacks

In a briefing to the government, APRA says cyberattacks on super funds will increase, and future shocks to the $4.1 trillion sector could spill over to the banks.

Retail investors are laughing all the way to the (Commonwealth) bank

Many self-managed superannuation funds hold CBA shares directly and have been richly rewarded by the bank’s bull run. But what to do next?

June

Assistant Treasurer and Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino.

$3m super tax won’t kill aspiration: assistant treasurer

Assistant treasurer Daniel Mulino has also left the door open to further changes to Australia’s $4.2 trillion superannuation system.

The proposal would allow the Trump Administration raise taxes on countries deemed to levy discriminatory taxes against American firms.

Chalmers urges Bessent to reconsider ‘revenge tax’ on super funds

The proposal would allow the Trump administration to raise taxes on countries deemed to levy discriminatory taxes against American firms.

APRA deputy chairwoman Margaret Cole had promised to “test the limits” of the law in pursuing cases of dubious spending by superannuation funds.

Super funds spending without any clear benefit for members: APRA

The nation’s biggest superannuation providers have “suboptimal” expense policies that risk undermining the best financial interests of millions.

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In his National Press Club address, Dr Chalmers invoked the Hawke, Keating and Howard eras - leaders who understood the value of economic dynamism.

Chalmers’ super tax will send productivity backwards

Taxing unrealised gains in superannuation will not deliver the Hawke-Keating style reform that is desperately needed.

APRA chairman John Lonsdale has repeatedly expressed concerns about governance arrangements at major financial institutions.

Big super says APRA’s director crackdown will lead to lazy boards

The industry group representing some of the biggest retirement funds has told the regulator it is worried the proposal is “essentially a de facto veto power”.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ has proposed a new super tax.

Super tax breaks are greatly exaggerated

Treasury claims more than $50 billion in revenue is being forfeited for super tax breaks every year. This is misleading.

Cbus chairman and former Labor treasurer Wayne Swan’s said last year he was “confident that investment in the social housing sector has the potential to be a win-win for our members.”

Super funds are not a piggy bank for Labor’s pet projects

Chalmers’ vow to put to bed “needless brawls” on super is contradicted by his attempts to wager Australian’s retirement savings to prop up nation-building policies.

The Sydney Morning Herald’s economic editor may be a fan of Labor’s super tax, but it sets a dangerous precedent for revenue collection.

Don’t let rich old men tell you the planned super tax is good

Once the government opens the door to taxing unrealised gains, there’s little stopping it from extending this logic to other areas.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers is facing concerted opposition to his proposed reforms to the tax treatment of large superannuation balances.

Three reasons why you should ‘chill out’ over Labor’s super tax

The super tax on unrealised gains is part of the long-overdue and necessary process of tax reform that many have been urging over decades.

Aware Super CEO Deanne Stewart.

‘I was the only non-billionaire in the room’

Aware Super’s Deanne Stewart, a leading voice for a sector using its increasing political, social and investment clout, on why she wants to be a force for good, and what it was like meeting King Charles.

Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers.

Jim Chalmers is wrong. The economy is not turning a corner

Labor’s super tax does little to fundamentally improve a badly unbalanced tax system that only grows more unfair, unwieldy and unproductive.

The Greens’ proposal could affect fewer people than Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ super tax

Labor’s $3m super tax to hit more people than Greens’ alternative

The less punitive Greens policy is fuelling calls for the government to index its controversial super tax to spare more workers being slugged. 

May

It’s not good principle to include Labor’s super tax on unrealised gains in the tax regime, but it should be noted that it is already embodied in the arrangements for the APRA-regulated funds that cover approximately 70 per cent of the system.

Labor’s super tax is reasonable if done properly. Here’s why

The proposed tax changes could make Australia’s superannuation system fairer – if unintended consequences are avoided.

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Tax reform comes with substantial political risk. It creates winners and losers. Losers empower the opposition and require of a government the courage to take on risk.

Why Chalmers’ super tax isn’t real reform

Labor’s proposal to increase tax on super balances over $3 million will treat symptoms instead of the disease. Here are 6 proposals for an optimal tax agenda.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Let’s just relax and pass the fair and affordable super tax

Even if you have to pay the tax, your comfortable retirement is safe, and you are still getting the benefit of tax concessions.

The proposed superannuation tax increase might end up helping the target’s children and grandchildren.

Your kids will love this strategy for beating the $3m super tax

Wealthy Australians are already searching for strategies to avoid paying more tax on their super, which could lead to a financial windfall for some.

The tax on unrealised gains could create a death spiral where the only assets left in the portfolio are unlisted as all listed ones have been sold to pay tax

Labor’s super tax will make Australia uninvestable

The net result is that superannuation funds, especially SMSFs, will not invest in startups, a sector vital to Australia’s productivity and growth.

Daniel Mulino.

Super tax to hit more workers over time, Labor concedes

Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino says he doesn’t think the 10 per cent of all taxpayers, or 1.2 million people, who would be affected to be a significant number.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/superannuation-wars-1mr4