Voters sceptical on future super changes
More than two thirds of Australians expect Labor to introduce more taxes on their superannuation accounts should the party be elected for another term.
More than two thirds of Australians expect Labor to introduce more taxes on superannuation should the party be re-elected, as the government continues seeking support for its proposal to increase the tax rate on super funds worth more than $3m.
A national poll commissioned by the Financial Services Council showed 44 per cent of Australians did not trust Labor when it came to setting super taxes, with this figure creeping up to 46 per cent when the government’s plan for super balances worth more than $3m was shared with respondents.
More than 70 per cent of respondents to the poll – conducted by Crosby Textor Group – said they believed it was “somewhat likely” or “very likely” Labor would introduce further super tax changes should the party be re-elected, while 27 per cent said such a move was unlikely.
Labor’s proposed super legislation – which passed the lower house last year but is stalled in the Senate – would see the concessional tax rate for balances of more than $3m doubled to 30 per cent, with the laws planned to come into force by July 1.
Treasury has previously estimated that Labor’s changes would impact 80,000 people in its first year, or 0.5 per cent of all superannuation accounts. However, that number would grow as the $3m threshold is not indexed.
Jim Chalmers said those with balances over $3m would still “get very generous tax concessions, just not as generous”.
While the Greens have remained open to voting for the bill, all but two of the remaining Senate crossbenchers have ruled out supporting it in its current form, with most citing concerns around unrealised capital gains.
Only independents Fatima Payman and Lidia Thorpe have said they would oppose the legislation.
Despite the high levels of distrust in Labor’s future plan for superannuation taxes, a high portion of respondents to the CT survey also indicated a lack of trust in the Liberal Party.
The figures revealed 40 per cent distrusted the Liberals on the matter, with that dropping to 35 per cent after respondents were shown the details on the opposition’s commitment to vote against Labor’s super legislation and “protect Australians’ retirement savings from unfair new taxes”.
Financial Services Council chief executive Blake Briggs said the results made clear Australians didn’t trust politicians broadly with their superannuation, but were “particularly unnerved” by Labor’s current push to increase taxes on retirement savings worth more than $3m.
“Labor’s perseverance in raising taxes is eroding Australians’ trust in the government on the eve of the federal election,” he said.
“The government’s superannuation tax should be withdrawn in favour of an economy-wide and evidence-based tax review after the next election.”
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