2016/17 Federal Budget Report

Excerpt: 2016/17 FEDERAL BUDGET REPORT

May 2016

For us, the big story out of Budget 2016 is of course Morrison’s crackdown on high-end super tax concessions. Ten years on from Costello’s tax-free super savings and now, on the other side of the resources boom, Morrison has redefined the purpose of super as a substitute or supplement to the welfare safety net of the aged pension, not a vehicle for wealth accumulation or bequests.

Whilst we welcome the fairness measures and in particular applaud those initiatives that help low-income earners and those with low superannuation balances, we do not look favourably on any announcement that proposes change retrospectively or that may be counterproductive to a person’s ability to save for a secure and dignified retirement.

It has now been three weeks since Budget night, but three eventful weeks in the context of understanding the motives and the landscape surrounding the proposals. We have heard from the various sides of the election campaign and now have a sense of what will go through and what might be ‘retrospectively argued away’.

As is customary at FinSec, we have opted to wait and deliver a succinct report, focusing only on the information relevant to the financial advice we provide. As always, if you have questions relating to your personal circumstances, we encourage you to contact us so that we can discuss the proposed changes in greater detail. But do not forget, at this stage the proposals are only announcements a lot may change as the legislation navigates both an election and the political process thereafter.