The Assistant Treasurer says the Government is philosophically in favour of self-managed super funds, with people taking responsibility for their own savings. He said the regime that is attached to that has tended to be a “bit more light touch than the regime you get around APRA regulated funds and the like”.
On the other hand, however, Senator Sinodinos said people with SMSFs “should not expect that the Government necessarily comes to their rescue”. He said “the politics of this has always been that if things get really hot, the Government always comes to the rescue, depending on how much they’re feeling the heat. But philosophically, I would prefer a situation where the regulation remains light touch”.
The Assistant Treasurer acknowledged there was some concern by those with SMSFs about the way they’re administered by the ATO. He said he was “happy to look at any particular beefs they may have about that”. We’ve always got to be open to listening to what people are concerned about, but I prefer them to keep a fairly flexible regime, as long as they understand that taking responsibility for your own savings, means taking responsibility for your own savings, he said.
[LTN 232, 29/11/13]