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18/09/18
14:52
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Originally posted by occam
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Pensions from super should be tax free , unless they can restructure the system and go without tax revenue for some years.
Smart countries , unlike Australia, do not levy a contribution tax when your funds go into
super some thirty to fifty years before we are entitled to collect , and who knows what it will be worth then. Smart countries do not tax profits in the fund during the accumulation phase. Smart countries tax only once and that it on the way out when you retire and are in pension mode. By then the balance has built up substantially more than under our system. Then the pension is taxed at normal rates. How simple and fair that is. Yet successive Govts here have created an unholy mess that is extremely complicated, and requires accountants and auditors to sort it all out, adding significantly to the cost. We are now the only country in the world that taxes all three stages of super/ retirement funds. Most Australians don’t know/ care until they are close to retirement .
The next time you here some ignorant journalist or politician carping on about the cost of super concessions, tell them that the cost is nothing compared to the compounded effect of the contribution tax which is levied as I said before , thirty to fifty years before we see a cracker.
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Quite correct Occam,
Keating was responsible for mucking this up. The initial system was as you described.
However, what's done is done.
No tax at all coming out, when there were tax concessions going in, and during accumulation, is a nonsense.
So, we need tax on money coming out, with concessions to reflect the tax that was paid during accumulation.
ie tax at normal rate with 15% rebate on concessional super would be one option.