The recent federal budget introduced two measures that were designed to help address housing affordability. Tax breaks were proposed to help retirees to benefit from downsizing and a first home saver scheme was introduced to enable first home buyers to use superannuation as a saving account towards their first home.
First home super saver scheme
Under the government’s first home super saver scheme, from 1 July 2017, first home buyers would be able to make voluntary contributions of up to A$15,000 per annum and A$30,000 in total (per person if in a couple) to their superannuation. The idea is that they will withdraw it again after at least 12 months to help fund a house deposit.
The Department of the Treasury and the ATO are still working on some of the detailed implementation plans for the scheme and the ATO will be responsible for its administration.
Superannuation tax breaks for downsizers
The downsizing tax break for retirees is proposed to enable Australians over 65 years of age to contribute up to $300,000 of the proceeds of a sale of their main residence into superannuation - above the $1.6 million cap that was announced last year.
It is designed to encourage some people to downsize into housing that is more suitable to their needs, freeing up larger family homes.
For further details on either of these initiatives go to: www.budget.gov.au/2017-18/content/
For more information on voluntary contributions to super contact our friendly Helpline team on 1300 13 44 33.
The information contained in this article does not constitute financial product advice. REI Super does not give any warranty to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the information provided. Although REI Super makes every reasonable effort to maintain current and accurate information, you should be aware that there is still the possibility of inadvertent errors and technical inaccuracies.