Nick Sherry (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Minister for Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

The Assistant Treasurer has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) The number of individuals exceeding the concessional contributions caps, as per Table 1 in the answer to question on notice number 367 broken down by the marginal income tax rate brackets is as follows:

(a) Financial Year 2008-09

Table 1: Number of individuals potentially exceeding contribution caps in 2008-09 by marginal tax rate

1 Individuals in this category are those who either are not required to lodge a return or have an outstanding tax return. The ATO is following up these cases where required.

(b) Financial Year 2009-10

Table 2: Number of individuals potentially exceeding contribution caps in 2009-10 by marginal tax rate

1 Individuals in this category are those who still have to lodge their return in accordance with the Tax Agent Lodgment Program and those who either are not required to lodge a return or have an outstanding tax return. The ATO is following up these cases as required.

Note:

(c) An estimate for 2010-11 is currently not available.

(2) The percentage of the individuals who have exceeded the concessional contribution caps that are defined benefit members is outlined in the below table.

Table 3: Percentage of individuals who have exceeded the concessional cap who are members of a defined benefit fund

Source: The defined benefit numbers shown in the table are ascertained by matching data from the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Statistics - Superannuation fund-level profiles June 2010 (issued 27 January 2011) with excess contribution data.

Note: Hybrid defined benefits funds will have both a defined benefit and accumulation element (eg Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme). The ATO is unable to determine the proportion of members in the hybrid funds who would only receive defined benefits.

(3) Revenue is generally not hypothecated to spending. The excess contributions tax will become part of general revenue.

(4) This estimate has not been calculated.

(5) The net impact for 2009-10 and 2010-11 were made public as part of the 2010 11 Budget Estimates in Treasury’s written response to BET68. An electronic copy of this response can be found on the Australian Parliament House website, located at:

http://aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/economics_ctte/estimates/bud_1011/Treasury/answers/BET68.pdf

(6) It is not possible to provide projected forward estimates given the legislative detail for some measures are still being finalised, e.g. concessional contributions cap for those over 50.

(7) Excess contributions tax is an integrity measure to ensure the tax concessions provided to superannuation are both fiscally sustainable and targeted appropriately.