The budget was largely missing any announcements particular to our sector.

On related matters, the deeming rate won’t change – relevant to social security recipients – and there has been funding allocated to implementing already announced government initiatives.

Items that have been in open discussion for some time remain unresolved namely;

• Relaxation of some of the overseas residency restrictions for SMSFs and
• A pathway to resolve outstanding legacy complying pension issues.

The big item in play is the Div 296 Bill concerning the extra tax on members with a $3m plus total super balance. The bill is before the Senate at the moment having been through a government review process that, remarkably, determined that no changes were required to the Bill including to the ludicrous condition that the extra tax does not apply to a member who dies during the year – provided it was not on 30 June. The Government plus the Greens, still require the support of two independents to push this Bill through. Peter Burgess, the SMSF Association’s CEO, is in Canberra actively working on this. We expect a result imminently.