Annual report to members 2009 - QSuper - Queensland Government

The Commonwealth Governmentbudget and your superThe CommonwealthGovernment’s Budget2009/2010 had someinteresting outcomes for thesuperannuation industry.Since first announced, some proposalshave been enacted in legislation underthe Tax Laws Amendment (2009 BudgetMeasures No.1) Act 2009, the SuperannuationIndustry (Supervision) AmendmentRegulations 2009 (No.4) and the SocialSecurity And Other Legislation Amendment(Pension Reform And Other 2009 BudgetMeasures) Act 2009. Some of the measuresannounced include:Minimum draw-down amountA regulation amendment passed inJune 2009 extended the reducedminimum drawdown for account basedpensions to the end of the 2009/2010financial year. This change applies tomembers with a QSuper Pension accountand members using the transition toretirement option. For more informationabout this change, please see the QSuperPension account documents includedwith your QSuper benefit statement, orcontact QSuper.Super co-contributionsTemporary reductions to the super cocontributionhave been included in the2009/2010 Budget. These reductions willbe scaled back up to the 2008/2009 rateby 2014/2015.In 2008/2009, the matching rate foreligible members was $1.50 for every $1.00contributed, up to a maximum of $1,500.The matching rate drops to $1.00 for $1.00,up to a maximum of $1,000, starting fromthe 2009/2010 financial year.In the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 financialyears, the matching rate and maximumcontribution will increase to $1.25 for every$1.00 contributed (up to $1,250) and in the2014/2015 financial year, the full matchingrates and co-contribution will be restored.As these changes only become effectivefrom 1 July 2009, the 2008/2009co‐contributions will not be affected.Concessional contributions capThe Government has reduced the capon concessional (including employer andpersonal before-tax i.e. contributions madethrough salary sacrifice) contributions from$50,000 to $25,000 p.a., for the 2009/2010financial year, and the transitionalarrangement for those 50 or over from$100,000 to $50,000 p.a. from 1 July 2009to 30 June 2012. If your concessionalcontributions exceed the cap, you arerequired to pay additional tax on anyamount above the cap.Subject to any conditions to be imposedby the Government under legislation,special arrangements will apply to theconcessional contributions of memberswith defined benefit interests at 12 May2009, including the method by whichthese concessional contributions(which, for defined benefit interests arecalled notional taxed contributions) arecalculated. This is because employercontributions into these interests arenot always attributable to individualmembers. Where these members’ notionaltax contributions exceed the reducedconcessional contributions cap, theywill be deemed to have met the cap.These arrangements are similar to thearrangements that were applied when theconcessional contributions cap was firstintroduced in July 2007. This arrangementonly applies to concessional contributionsmade in respect of a Defined Benefitaccount. For further information on thesespecial arrangements, please refer to theQSuper website.Non-concessionalcontributions capChanges to the non-concessional(after‐tax) contributions cap havealso been legislated. The currentnon‐concessional contributions capis set at three times the concessionalcontributions cap of $50,000, which equals$150,000 p.a., or $450,000 under the ‘bringforward rule’.The cap will stay at the same level forthe 2009/2010 financial year, and willbe calculated at six times the level ofthe concessional contributions cap infollowing financial years.The following proposalsannounced in the 2009/2010Commonwealth GovernmentBudget are still beingconsidered:Lost or unclaimed superThe Government has announced thatfrom the 2010/2011 financial year,superannuation providers will be requiredto transfer to the Australian Tax Office, lostaccounts which have balances less than$200, or that have been inactive for fiveyears, and for which there are insufficientrecords to identify the owner of theaccount.Trans-Tasman portabilityThe Budget announcement also includeda proposal to continue the Government’scommitment to establish a scheme fortrans-Tasman portability of retirementsavings. This means once an agreementis reached, retirement savings could betransferred between certain Australian andNew Zealand funds. As yet, no details ofhow this scheme will operate have beenreleased, but we will keep you updated viathe website.6 | QSuper Annual report to members