The Government on Fri 7.6.2013, released a discussion paper on lost and unclaimed superannuation money setting out additional initiatives that could facilitate the process of reuniting members with their lost super accounts. The discussion paper is seeking views on further opportunities to enhance the existing suite of strategies (and new strategies) to reduce the number of lost and unnecessary accounts. The paper notes that recent initiatives (eg SuperSeeker) have helped reduce lost superannuation to id=”mce_marker”6.8bn (down 17% from $20.2bn) in the year to 30 June 2012, while the number of lost super accounts has fallen to 3.4m (down 32%). Lost and unclaimed money held by the Tax Office has increased to $886.9m over the same period (up 18% from $729.5m).
The discussion paper follows the Government’s announcement on 5 April 2013 that it would further increase the account balance threshold below which lost super accounts are transferred to the Tax Office to $2,500 from 31 December 2015 (and to $3,000 from 31 December 2016). This follows recent amendments effective on 31 May 2013 that increased the threshold from $200 to $2,000 and reduced the period of inactivity from 5 years to 12 months.
SUBMISSIONS are due by 28 June 2013.
[LTN 109, 7/6/13]