By Colin Lewis, Head of Strategic Advice
May, 2021
This is a GOOD NEWS BUDGET.
The measures announced in this year’s Budget covering taxation, superannuation and social services as it relates to your personal finances are extremely positive and, I’m sure you’ll agree, most welcome.
Taxation
Personal income tax cuts
In the 2018-19 Federal Budget, the Government introduced a seven-year Personal Income Tax Plan (PITP).
In the both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 Budgets, there were further tax cuts and the PITP was fast-tracked by two years.
The good news in this year’s Budget is the low and middle income tax offset (LMITO) – which was going at the end of this financial year – is being retained for another year and will now continue in 2021-22.
The LMITO provides a reduction in tax of up to $1,080 for individuals ($2,160 for dual income couples) as follows:
- There is a reduction in tax of up to $255 for taxpayers with taxable income of less than $37,000.
- Between $37,000 and $48,000, the offset increases at a rate of 7.5 cents per dollar to the maximum offset of $1,080.
- Taxpayers with taxable incomes between $48,000 and $90,000 are eligible for the maximum offset of $1,080.
- For taxable incomes of $90,000 to $126,000, the offset phases out at a rate of 3 cents per dollar.
The PITP has the following three stages:
- Tax relief for low and middle-income earners – which has been implemented.
- Protect middle-income earners from bracket creep – which has also been implemented.
- Ensure Australians pay less tax by making the system simpler – which is law.
When Stage 3 is implemented in 2024-25, around 95 percent of taxpayers will face a marginal tax rate of 30 per cent or less.
Tax support for business extended
Two tax incentives announced in last year’s Budget are being extended by one year — together, they create a strong incentive for businesses to bring forward investment to access the tax benefits before they expire.
Temporary full expensing
Temporary full expensing will now be available until June 30, 2023.
It allows eligible businesses with aggregated annual turnover or total income of up to $5 billion to deduct the full cost of eligible depreciable assets – which must be first used or installed ready for use by 30 June 2023.
The 12-month extension will provide eligible businesses with more time to access the incentive, including projects that require longer planning times and those affected by COVID-19 related supply disruptions.
All other elements of temporary full expensing will remain unchanged, including the alternative eligibility test based on total income and a track-record of investment, which will continue to be available to businesses.
Temporary loss carry-back
Temporary loss carry-back will also be extended by one year.
This will allow eligible companies to carry-back tax losses from the 2022-23 income year to offset previously taxed profits as far back as the 2018-19 income year.
Companies with aggregated annual turnover of up to $5 billion can apply tax losses incurred during the 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and now the 2022-23 income years to offset tax paid in 2018-19 or later years.
The tax refund will be available to companies when they lodge their 2020-21, 2021-22 and now 2022-23 tax returns.
This will help increase cash flow for businesses in future years and support companies that were profitable and paying tax but find themselves in a loss position as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Employee Share Schemes
If you are a salaried employee – usually an executive – and have an interest in a tax-deferred employee share scheme (ESS), you may know you face one of four potential taxing points with your scheme.
For ESS interests issued on or after the start of the first financial year after the Budget announcement becomes law, one of these taxing points is being removed.
The cessation of employment taxing point for tax-deferred ESSs is going to be removed.
By removing this taxing point, tax will be deferred until the earliest of the remaining taxing points:
- for shares, when there is no risk of forfeiture and no restrictions on disposal,
- for options, when the employee exercises the option and there is no risk of forfeiting the resulting share and no restrictions on disposal,
- the maximum period of deferral of 15 years.
ESSs are seen as a ‘golden handcuff’ – a financial incentive intended to encourage employees to remain with a company for a stipulated period of time. Golden handcuffs are offered by employers to existing key employees as a means of holding onto them as well as to increase employee retention rates.
So, with the removal of the cessation of employment taxing point, ESSs of the future will no longer act as a golden handcuff – they effectively come off – as employees will not be deterred from leaving a company in fear of incurring hefty tax bill at that point in time.
Are you a globally mobile individual? Well, not for the time being with COVID-19!
For some people living and working overseas it can be difficult ascertaining their residency status for tax purposes. So, the Government is modernising the tax residency rules for individuals.
The individual tax residency rules will be replaced with a new framework that is easy to understand, provides certainty and reduces compliance costs for globally mobile individuals and their employers.
The primary test will simply be:
‘a person who is physically present in Australia for 183 days or more in any income year will be an Australian tax resident’.
People who do not meet the primary test will be subject to secondary tests that depend on a combination of physical presence and measurable, objective criteria.
Currently, individuals (and their employers) can face large compliance costs, including the need to seek third-party advice, despite having otherwise simple tax affairs. The new framework is designed to strike the right balance between certainty, simplicity and integrity.
This new framework will apply from the first financial year after it becomes law.
Superannuation
The work test for older Australians is going!
‘Simpler Super’ is finally getting a little less complex.
Older Australians will not have had the benefit of compulsory super throughout their entire working lives. So, repealing the work test gives retirees the opportunity to get more out of the superannuation system.
From July 1 next year, if you are aged 67 to 74 you will no longer be required to meet the work test – 40 hours of gainful employment in 30 consecutive days – before making voluntary after-tax non-concessional contributions (NCCs) and/or salary sacrifice contributions.
There will no longer be the mad rush – where you are not working – to contribute to super before your 67th birthday as you will have a further eight years to do so. Nor will you have to find a short-term job just to make a voluntary super contribution – like some people resort to.
Having a longer timeframe to contribute may give you the opportunity to improve your estate planning position with certain beneficiaries, such as adult children, by allowing you to withdraw your super and re-contribute it back. Thus, changing the underlying tax componentry of your super – resulting in less tax being taken from your death benefits.
You may be able to contribute up until 28 days after the end of the month in which you turn 75. After that, your fund can only accept employer mandated award and Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions. You can also make a downsizer contribution from the proceeds of selling a home held for at least 10 years.
Non-concessional contributions
You will be able to make NCCs provided your total superannuation balance (TSB) – the amount you’ve got in the super system – does not exceed $1.7 million at June 30, 2022.
In addition to having the opportunity to contribute for longer, you will be able to access the NCC bring-forward arrangement, provided you meet the eligibility criteria.
The bring-forward rule may allow you to contribute more than the ‘standard’ NCCs cap – $110,000 per year from July 1 this year.
Assuming this all becomes law, the bring-forward rule means that if your TSB is less than $1.48 million at June 30, 2022 then you may contribute up to $330,000. If it is between $1.48 million and $1.59 million then it is $220,000, otherwise the maximum is $110,000. You won’t be able to contribute if your TSB is $1.7 million or more.
Personal deductible contributions
The work test is not being abolished for all types of contributions as you will still be required to meet the work test if you wish to claim a tax deduction for a personal contribution.
When Stage 3 is implemented in 2024-25, around 95 percent of taxpayers will face a marginal tax rate of 30 percent or less.
Tax support for business extended
Two tax incentives announced in last year’s Budget are being extended by one year — together, they create a strong incentive for businesses to bring forward investment to access the tax benefits before they expire.
Temporary full expensing
Temporary full expensing will now be available until June 30, 2023.
It allows eligible businesses with aggregated annual turnover or total income of up to $5 billion to deduct the full cost of eligible depreciable assets – which must be first used or installed ready for use by 30 June 2023.
The 12-month extension will provide eligible businesses with more time to access the incentive, including projects that require longer planning times and those affected by COVID-19 related supply disruptions.
All other elements of temporary full expensing will remain unchanged, including the alternative eligibility test based on total income and a track-record of investment, which will continue to be available to businesses.
Temporary loss carry-back
Temporary loss carry-back will also be extended by one year.
This will allow eligible companies to carry-back tax losses from the 2022-23 income year to offset previously taxed profits as far back as the 2018-19 income year.
Companies with aggregated annual turnover of up to $5 billion can apply tax losses incurred during the 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and now the 2022-23 income years to offset tax paid in 2018-19 or later years.
The tax refund will be available to companies when they lodge their 2020-21, 2021-22 and now 2022-23 tax returns.
This will help increase cash flow for businesses in future years and support companies that were profitable and paying tax but find themselves in a loss position as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Employee Share Schemes
If you are a salaried employee – usually an executive – and have an interest in a tax-deferred employee share scheme (ESS), you may know you face one of four potential taxing points with your scheme.
For ESS interests issued on or after the start of the first financial year after the Budget announcement becomes law, one of these taxing points is being removed.
The cessation of employment taxing point for tax-deferred ESSs is going to be removed.
By removing this taxing point, tax will be deferred until the earliest of the remaining taxing points:
- for shares, when there is no risk of forfeiture and no restrictions on disposal,
- for options, when the employee exercises the option and there is no risk of forfeiting the resulting share and no restrictions on disposal,
- the maximum period of deferral of 15 years.
ESSs are seen as a ‘golden handcuff’ – a financial incentive intended to encourage employees to remain with a company for a stipulated period of time. Golden handcuffs are offered by employers to existing key employees as a means of holding onto them as well as to increase employee retention rates.
So, with the removal of the cessation of employment taxing point, ESSs of the future will no longer act as a golden handcuff – they effectively come off – as employees will not be deterred from leaving a company in fear of incurring hefty tax bill at that point in time.
Are you a globally mobile individual? Well, not for the time being with COVID-19!
For some people living and working overseas it can be difficult ascertaining their residency status for tax purposes. So, the Government is modernising the tax residency rules for individuals.
The individual tax residency rules will be replaced with a new framework that is easy to understand, provides certainty and reduces compliance costs for globally mobile individuals and their employers.
The primary test will simply be:
‘a person who is physically present in Australia for 183 days or more in any income year will be an Australian tax resident’.
People who do not meet the primary test will be subject to secondary tests that depend on a combination of physical presence and measurable, objective criteria.
Currently, individuals (and their employers) can face large compliance costs, including the need to seek third-party advice, despite having otherwise simple tax affairs. The new framework is designed to strike the right balance between certainty, simplicity and integrity.
This new framework will apply from the first financial year after it becomes law.
Superannuation
The work test for older Australians is going!
‘Simpler Super’ is finally getting a little less complex.
Older Australians will not have had the benefit of compulsory super throughout their entire working lives. So, repealing the work test gives retirees the opportunity to get more out of the superannuation system.
From July 1 next year, if you are aged 67 to 74 you will no longer be required to meet the work test – 40 hours of gainful employment in 30 consecutive days – before making voluntary after-tax non-concessional contributions (NCCs) and/or salary sacrifice contributions.
There will no longer be the mad rush – where you are not working – to contribute to super before your 67th birthday as you will have a further eight years to do so. Nor will you have to find a short-term job just to make a voluntary super contribution – like some people resort to.
Having a longer timeframe to contribute may give you the opportunity to improve your estate planning position with certain beneficiaries, such as adult children, by allowing you to withdraw your super and re-contribute it back. Thus, changing the underlying tax componentry of your super – resulting in less tax being taken from your death benefits.
You may be able to contribute up until 28 days after the end of the month in which you turn 75. After that, your fund can only accept employer mandated award and Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contributions. You can also make a downsizer contribution from the proceeds of selling a home held for at least 10 years.
Non-concessional contributions
You will be able to make NCCs provided your total superannuation balance (TSB) – the amount you’ve got in the super system – does not exceed $1.7 million at June 30, 2022.
In addition to having the opportunity to contribute for longer, you will be able to access the NCC bring-forward arrangement, provided you meet the eligibility criteria.
The bring-forward rule may allow you to contribute more than the ‘standard’ NCCs cap – $110,000 per year from July 1 this year.
Assuming this all becomes law, the bring-forward rule means that if your TSB is less than $1.48 million at June 30, 2022 then you may contribute up to $330,000. If it is between $1.48 million and $1.59 million then it is $220,000, otherwise the maximum is $110,000. You won’t be able to contribute if your TSB is $1.7 million or more.
Personal deductible contributions
The work test is not being abolished for all types of contributions as you will still be required to meet the work test if you wish to claim a tax deduction for a personal contribution.
Thinking of selling your home and contributing the proceeds to super?
From 1 July 2022, the minimum age to make a downsizer contribution will be lowered from 65 to 60.
This change may allow you to make a one-off after-tax contribution of up to $300,000 ($600,000 per couple) – earlier than would otherwise have been the case – from the proceeds of selling your home which you have held for at least 10 years.
There’s a lot to consider before jumping in and making a downsizer contribution. First, you’ve got to be eligible to make the contribution then you need to consider a number of factors before doing it.
To be eligible to make a downsizer contribution you must currently be aged 65 or more – but this is dropping to age 60 or more – at the time of the contribution, which arises from the disposal of a property in Australia that qualified for the capital gains tax (CGT) main residence exemption (in part or full) and was owned by you or your spouse for a continuous period of at least 10 years – but you don’t need to have lived in it for 10 years.
The property doesn’t have to be your main residence at the date of disposal and if you have more than one property that qualifies you can choose which one to sell – but be mindful of any potential CGT.
You do not have to downsize you home – as the name of the contribution suggests – or purchase another property to qualify. You can:
- sell your home and:
- purchase any new property, or
- move into another property you own, e.g. investment property or holiday home, or
- continue living in your home and sell another property previously your main residence.
It does not apply to the disposal of houseboats, caravans or other mobile homes.
The amount of the contribution will be the lesser of the sale proceeds or $300,000 per individual and generally it must be made within 90 days of change of legal ownership – settlement of the property. Each member of a couple may be eligible to make a downsizer contribution even though only one is on the title and it’s an individual cap, so a couple may be eligible to contribute up to $600,000.
It is critical you notify your super fund trustee that it’s a downsizer contribution before or at the time of the contribution, and you cannot claim a personal tax deduction for it.
The beauty of making a downsizer contribution is that it’s not treated as NCCs and thus does not count towards the NCCs cap and is not subject to the TSB test. However, the contribution will be included in your TSB which may impact your ability to make NCCs in future years.
In so many ways this government initiative benefits the wealthy – they are the ones most likely to use the opportunity to make a downsizer contribution to their advantage. So, if you are a self-funded retiree with a level of income and assets that precludes you receiving any means-tested social security/DVA benefits, you are likely to benefit most.
The vast majority of senior Australians receive some form of Age Pension. Few will want to see their income drop by selling their home and putting the proceeds into super.
The home is an exempt asset when it comes to the Age Pension. However, amounts in super are ‘deemed’ under the income test and counted under the asset test. Thus, a downsizer contribution could reduce, even eliminate, any means-tested social security/DVA income support payments.
Even self-funded retirees who risk losing their Commonwealth Seniors Health Card may steer clear of this strategy. Commencing an account-based pension (ABP) from a downsizer contribution will result in loss of the card where deemed income from the new pension pushes you over the income threshold – currently $55,808 for singles and $89,290 for couples, combined. However, if the contribution is retained in the taxable accumulation phase, there will be no impact on this card.
Nobody likes losing government benefits!
If you’re selling the house anyway and end up with a surplus to invest then by all means super may be the way to go. But make sure the tax paid, if any, on earnings from investments held in super is going to be less than what you’ll pay if those investments are held in your personal name. Be aware, the effective tax-free threshold for taxpayers aged 65 or more is:
- $33,898 for singles, and
- $30,593 for couples (each).
With the work test being repealed – so, you may be eligible to contribute to super longer – the opportunity to make a downsizer contribution in the future will not be as attractive as it currently is, unless you are aged 75 or more, or your TSB prevents you from making an NCC.
Are you moving overseas – after COVID-19 – and have an SMSF or SAF?
The good news – the VERY good news – apart from the opportunity to get back overseas, is the residency requirements for self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs) and small APRA-regulated funds (SAFs) is being relaxed by:
- extending the central control and management test (CMC) safe harbour from two to five years for SMSFs, and
- removing the active member test for both SMSFs and SAFs.
Currently, if you have an SMSF and head overseas for more than two years then you must do something with your fund – or you’ll have a problem. In the extreme, you can wind-up your fund, or convert it to a SAF by appointing a professional trustee.
Alternatively, you can appoint an attorney. Appointing a trusted Australian-based person – who holds your enduring power of attorney – to act in your place as trustee (or director) avoids CMC problems. However, you must resign as a trustee (or director) and be prepared to relinquish control to them.
Also, you may have to stop contributing to your SMSF while overseas if you cannot comply with the active member test – which requires that while the SMSF is receiving contributions, at least 50% of the fund’s total asset value attributable to actively contributing members is attributable to resident contributing members.
Importantly, the change announced in this Budget will allow SMSF and SAF members to be eligible to contribute to their fund whilst temporarily overseas – ensuring parity with members of large APRA-regulated funds, such as retail and industry super funds.
So, if you are moving overseas, this change may provide you with the flexibility to keep and continue to contribute to your SMSF or SAF.
This change will occur from the start of the first financial year after it becomes law – which the Government expects to be from July 1, 2022.
Trapped in an old pension or annuity?
Are you currently locked into an income stream started back before 2007 to manage the old reasonable benefit limits, or improve your Centrelink entitlements?
Finally, you will be able to get out of it – a godsend for many – but this opportunity will only be temporary.
You will have two years – starting from the first financial year after it becomes law – to exit your market-linked income stream – commonly known as a term allocated pension – complying lifetime or life-expectancy pension or annuity.
You may choose to completely exit your income stream by fully commuting it and transferring the underlying capital – including any reserve in the fund supporting it – back to accumulation phase. From there you can commence a new income stream, withdraw it as a lump sum benefit, or retain the funds in the accumulation account.
Fund reserves
Importantly, any reserve transferred to accumulation phase will not count towards your concessional contributions (CCs) cap and thus will not result in excess CCs. Instead, the transferred reserve will be treated as an assessable contribution of the fund and taxed at 15 per cent – recognising the concessional tax treatment received when the reserve was established to pay your pension.
Take Sylvia who has a complying lifetime pension in her SMSF commenced in 2001 for RBL purposes. The fund has a reserve which supports this pension.
Sylvia wants the ability to access her capital in the fund, so she commutes her pension – including the reserve – back to accumulation phase. Then, as she is well within her transfer balance cap (TBC) – the limit on the amount she can move into the tax-free retirement phase – Sylvia commences an ABP with all the proceeds.
The reserve is included in her SMSF’s assessable income and taxed at 15 per cent.
Social security
Any favourable social security treatment applying to your existing income stream will be lost – will not transfer over – but there will be no re-assessment of it for the entire time you’ve had it.
Take Ray who is a retiree with a complying life-expectancy pension commenced in 2006.
Ray also wants the option to access his benefits as a tax-free lump sum should he need it. So, he commutes his pension back to accumulation phase. He then commences an ABP with the full balance as he has sufficient space under his TBC.
Ray’s Age Pension is determined by the income test, so his payments increase as a result of this conversion because the deemed income on his new ABP is lower than the assessable income from his former life-expectancy pension.
Transfer balance cap
Existing rules for income streams still apply. So, if you commence a new retirement phase income stream, e.g. ABP, you will be limited by your personal TBC – which by the time this is law will be between $1.6 and $1.7 million depending on your circumstances – and the existing TBC valuation methods for your old income stream apply.
Take Tom who has a market-linked pension commenced in 2005.
Wanting access to capital, he commutes his TAP back to accumulation phase. Tom commences an ABP with some of the proceeds – as he has limited space under his TBC – and decides to withdraw the rest as a tax-free lump sum benefit to invest outside super. Being single and over age 65, he can earn up to $33,898 without paying tax as opposed to keeping it in super where earnings are taxed at 15 per cent.
Are you an employee earning less than $450 per month?
If you are then you know your employer is not making SG payments for you.
The good news is the $450 per month minimum income threshold under which employers are not required to make SG payments for employees, is being removed.
This will happen from the start of the first financial year after it becomes law – which the Government expects to from July 1, 2022.
This will improve equity in the superannuation system by expanding the SG coverage for those on lower incomes. The Retirement Income Review estimated that around 300,000 wage earners will receive additional SG payments each month – 63 per cent of whom are women.
Are you, your children or grandkids saving to buy a first home?
The First Home Super Saver Scheme (FHSSS) helps Australians boost their savings for a first home by allowing them to build a deposit inside super – giving them a tax cut.
The FHSSS applies to voluntary CCs and NCCs. These contributions, with deemed earnings thereon, can be withdrawn for a home deposit. For most people, the FHSSS could boost the savings they can put towards a deposit by at least 30 per cent compared with saving through a standard deposit account.
The good news is the maximum releasable amount of voluntary contributions is increasing from $30,000 to $50,000.
Any voluntary contributions you have made from July 1, 2017 up to the existing limit of $15,000 per year will count towards the total amount able to be released.
The increase in maximum releasable amount will occur from the start of the first financial year after it becomes law – which the Government expects to be from July 1, 2022.
This change will ensure the FHSSS continues to help first home buyers in raising a deposit more quickly.
Several changes will also be made to the FHSSS to improve its operation where first home buyers using the scheme make errors on their release applications.
Social Services
Are you a retiree with your own home and need more financial support?
The Pension Loans Scheme (PLS) is being improved and becoming more flexible.
From 1 July 2022, a No Negative Equity Guarantee will be introduced, and you will be able to access a capped advance payment in the form of a lump sum.
No Negative Equity Guarantee
This guarantee will mean that where you borrow under the PLS, you – or your estate – will not owe more than the market value of your property – in the rare circumstances where your accrued PLS debt exceeds your property value.
This brings the PLS in line with private sector reverse mortgages.
Immediate access to lump sums
If eligible, you will be able to receive a maximum lump sum advance payment equal to 50 per cent of the maximum Age Pension. Based on current Age Pension rates, this is $12,385 per year for singles, while couples combined could receive $18,670. A maximum of two advances totalling up to the cap amount are permitted in a year – if you do not want to take an advance in one instalment.
Background
The PLS is a voluntary, reverse mortgage type loan available to assist older Australians who wish to boost their retirement income by unlocking equity in their real estate assets.
Through the PLS, people can receive additional regular fortnightly payments with the payments accruing as a debt secured against their Australian property.
The PLS allows a fortnightly loan of up to 150 per cent of the maximum rate of Age Pension. An interest rate (currently 4.5 per cent) is charged.
PLS and age pensioners
Under the existing PLS, if you are on a full-rate Age Pension, you can get an annual income boost worth 50 per cent of the full Age Pension representing $12,385 per year for singles and $18,670 for couples. This is on top of receiving the full Age Pension.
The increased flexibility from July 1, 2022 will allow you – as a full-rate age pensioner – to access your entire annual PLS amount as a lump sum. This is on top of receiving a full-rate Age Pension.
If you are on a part-rate Age Pension, you will also be able to access a lump sum worth 50 per cent of the full Age Pension. You will continue to be able to use the PLS to top-up your fortnightly pension through the PLS, such that your combined Age Pension plus PLS benefit (both lump sums and income stream) is up to 1.5 times the full-rate Age Pension payment.
PLS and self-funded retirees
Under the existing PLS, if you are a self-funded retiree of Age Pension age, but do not receive any Age Pension, you can get an income boost over a year worth 1.5 times the full-rate Age Pension. This represents $37,155 per year for singles and $56,011 per year for couples.
The increased flexibility from July 1, 2022 will allow you – as a self-funded retiree – to get a lump sum payment worth up to 50 per cent of the full-rate Age Pension, representing $12,385 per year for singles and $18,670 for couples under the PLS each year.
This is on top of the other amounts you may receive under the PLS up to the maximum annual amount and means you will be able to bring-forward one third of your maximum PLS payments if you choose to do so.
Housing
The Government aims to increase home ownership and support jobs in the residential construction sector with the following measures.
- Extending the construction commencement requirement from six months to 18 months for all existing applicants under the HomeBuilder program.
- Establishing the Family Home Guarantee with 10,000 places from 2021-22 to support single parents with dependants to enter, or re-enter, the housing market with a deposit of as little as 2 percent.
- Extending the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme to provide an additional 10,000 New Home Guarantees in 2021-22 to allow eligible first home buyers to build a new home or purchase a newly constructed home sooner with a deposit of as little as 5 percent.
Aged care
The Government will release 80,000 additional home care packages across all package levels – which will bring the total number of home care packages to 275,598 by June 2023.
This measure is designed to support older Australians requiring formal aged care to stay in their home longer before having to take the next step of moving into residential aged care.
And I couldn’t sign off without mentioning the tax relief for brewers and distillers – great news for lovers of craft beer, gin and whisky!
