Public Defender: Government in $220m super grab

JODHI Meares is among the high-profile people with unclaimed money. Find out if you have missing cash and what you need to do before the end of the year, when the Government will grab $220m more.

Jodhi Meares is among high profile people with unclaimed money.

THE Turnbull Government is about to pocket a $220 million revenue windfall by seizing control of an estimated 100,000 super accounts.

At the end of the month, super funds will have to transfer to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) “unclaimed” or “lost” super account balances of up to $6000 — an increase from the current threshold of $4000.

On December 31 last year, the threshold rose from $2000 to $4000.

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Super funds will soon have to transfer to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) “unclaimed” or “lost” super account balances of up to $6000.

That delivered the Commonwealth an extra $196.5 million of revenue.

The move to a $6000 threshold will see it reap another $219.6 million, an explanatory memorandum prepared by the federal Coalition government shows.

Ahead of the new threshold increase, the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) urged people to check for lost funds, saying a person who had a $5000 account taken by the ATO would miss out on about $225 a year of investment earnings — the Government keeps investment earnings on unclaimed super and only pays interest at the lowly inflation rate.

It could also mean losing the life insurance cover attached to the account nabbed by the ATO.

“Super belongs to individuals and families so gift yourself and give super a go to boost your savings,” said ASFA chief executive Martin Fahy.

ASFA chief executive Martin Fahy

“Pay interest in your super now, while you may have a bit of holiday time, then reap the long term rewards from the compound interest benefits super affords.”

ASFA has lobbied the Federal Government to return lost and missing funds and not raise thresholds to capture accounts.

ASFA estimates up to 100,000 additional accounts could be captured when the threshold rises to $6000.

Until recently, the Government couldn’t claim any inactive account that had more than $200 in it.

But Labor proposed gradually raising the threshold in 2013 — just before being booted from power. The Coalition, on winning office, enacted the staged increase to $6000.

A Treasury spokesman said: “Transferring small lost member super accounts — that is, those below the threshold — as unclaimed superannuation to the ATO helps protect such accounts from fee erosion and preserves their value until they can be reunited with the member.”

An ATO spokesman said $234 million of super was transferred back to owners in 2015-16. That was from the total $14 billion in unclaimed super held by the tax office.

The Treasury spokesman said: “Unlike super funds, the ATO does not charge any fees for maintaining these accounts. A higher threshold means more small lost member accounts can be protected from fee erosion.”

The Who’s Who of the Glitch List

IT’s not only $14 billion of super that has gone “missing”. The federal government has more than $1.2 billion in unclaimed bank accounts, shares, life insurance and cash, while state and territory govern­ments hold hundreds of millions more in deceased estates, dividends, bonds and uncashed cheques.

Sydney Swans star Lance 'Buddy' Franklin has been caught out. Picture: Toby Zerna

Celeb designer Jodhi Meares has been stung by the lost cash scam.

Searches reveal those who have lost cash include fashion designer Jodhi Tsindos, aka Jodhi Meares, along with league legends Andrew Johns and Paul Gallen, as well as AFL stars Lance “Buddy” Franklin and Scott Pendlebury, plus former Test cricketer Matthew Hayden. Before her marriage to photographer Nicholas Finn Tsindos about a year ago, Meares forgot to collect $1983.84 she was owed by Raine & Horne Double Bay.

It was unable to find her so sent the money to the NSW Office of State Revenue. The Daily Telegraph has made the now Mrs Tsindos aware of the sum and how to claim it.

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NSW and Cronulla captain Gallen is owed $437.50 in Origin Energy dividends. Rugby league “Immortal” Johns overpaid Energy Australia $179.56. It tried to reach him but he had moved. Energy Australia transferred the sum to the OSR.

The ATO’s advice on how to search for unclaimed super is found here

To check if a state or territory government holds money of yours, click here

To search ASIC’s unclaimed money database, use this link