The war of words over superannuation explained - 9News

Superannuation is the word on the street as Australia's retirement funds prepare for a potential shake-up - or at least a conversation - on how the nation's $3.3 trillion super system is governed.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made it clear no major changes are coming for superannuation while his right-hand man, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, wants to crack down on early access.

A war of words over superannuation has erupted but it is unclear whether changes will be made. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Basically, all the politicians are having their say on superannuation leaving us, the public, confused.

Here is a breakdown of what we know so far.

What is superannuation?

Superannuation is all about saving for retirement.

It's a long-term investment that sees your employer pay a percentage of your salary or wages into the fund.

You can also make your own contributions to boost your final retirement figure.

Over time, this builds up and the idea is you have a nice nest egg for when you retire.

What has been proposed?

There are a couple of key things: changing tax concessions, taxing wealth categories and capping balances.

Let's flesh those out.

Firstly, Chalmers has flagged a potential overhaul to superannuation and in particular the super tax concessions.

His pursuit all came about after he slammed the Morrison government's policy allowing people to withdraw up to $10,000 early from super funds as "disastrous".

It cost super funds nearly $36 billion and now Chalmers is on a mission to reform super.

One thing being raised in the super war of words is tax concessions, where you can make a before-tax contribution to your super in addition to what your employer pops in.

This is taxed at a super-low rate of 15 per cent.

It also takes into account that concessional contributions are capped at $27,500 this financial year and the fact that once you retire, super withdrawals are generally tax-free entirely.

Considering all this, tax concessions are forecast to cost the government $52.6 billion in 2022-23, just shy of the cost of the age pension at $55.3 billion.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers wants to crack down on super, particularly early access and tax concessions. (Nine)

So there is talk of changing super tax concessions - and Chalmers hasn't completely dismissed the idea.

"Right now, we're on track to spend more on super tax concessions than the age pension by around 2050," Chalmers said.

"I'm not convinced that's a sustainable way to get to our destination - good retirement incomes for more Australians, now and into the future."

Meanwhile, Labor Party president Wayne Swan suggested taxing super accounts with more than $3 million in them.

This could fill a $1 billion hole in the budget.

The last suggestion is capping super balances for people who have millions of dollars sitting in their super fund.

There are more than 11,000 Australians with more than $5 million in their super piggy bank.

What has the prime minister said?

Albanese said the government is open to debate and conversation about the purpose of super and tax concessions - but there aren't going to be any rash changes right now.

"The purpose of superannuation is for people's retirement incomes," he said.

"One of the things that we have said is that if you look at projections going forward, potentially the concessions in superannuation will be a higher cost to the budget than the aged pension is down the track.

"Now, it is right to look at the sustainability of progress."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made it clear there will be no changes to superannuation in the May budget. (Nine)

Albanese reiterated there wouldn't be changes to superannuation in the May budget.

Instead, once the government receives a report on superannuation they'll talk about the purpose of the retirement fund and maybe then, there will be changes.

What does the opposition have to say?

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton slammed the back and forth as causing uncertainty for Australians.

He said it would have a deleterious effect on super investment.

Leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton has slammed any changes to superannuation and the debate around it. (Getty)

But Dutton was not impressed with the suggestion of taxing different wealth categories for their superannuation.

"So people have pumped money into superannuation and the uncertainty that the prime minister's creating, I think it just shows they can't manage the budget or the economy," he said.

"You've got a reasonable balance in superannuation and the government now is saying that they're going to tax it."

He said the Coalition would seek to block any changes to super proposed in parliament.

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2023-02-23 05:26:29Z
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