Mar 28, 2020

Our Insights

Over the weekend, the Australian Government announced its economic support package to help Australians who are under financial stress as a result of the Coronavirus. One of the main support measures announced include the early release of superannuation for those financially affected by the Coronavirus.

The announcement states that from mid-April (subject to legislation), the Government is allowing eligible individuals affected by the Coronavirus to access up to $10,000 of their superannuation in 2019-20 and a further $10,000 in 2020-21.

Who is eligible

To apply for early release you must satisfy any one or more of the following requirements:

  • you are unemployed;
  • you are eligible to receive a job seeker payment, youth allowance for jobseekers, parenting payments, special benefit or farm household allowance; or on or after 1 January 2020: you were made redundant; or your working hours were reduced by 20 per cent or more;
  • If you are a sole trader — your business was suspended or there was a reduction in your turnover of 20 per cent or more.
  • You will not need to pay tax on amounts released and the money will not affect Centrelink or Veterans' Affairs payments.

How do I access this?

You will be able to apply for early release of your superannuation from mid-April 2020. If you need to access this and believe you qualify, you can contact us to assist or you can apply directly through your MyGov account at https://my.gov.au/. The ATO has confirmed that all requests must go through them and not to your superannuation fund. The ATO advises the proscess is:

  1. Applications are to the ATO via MyGov website;
  2. The ATO will verify the applicant, assess the application, record the bank account details, and make a decision;
  3. The ATO will then direct the nominated fund to release the requested amount to the bank account specified by the member;
  4. AUSTRAC has confirmed that superfunds can rely on the ATO's customer verification; and
  5. The member does not need to contact the super fund AT ALL in the process.

Further Informaiton:

The Govermnet has produced the following fact sheet which may be on benefit: https://treasury.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-03/Fact_sheet-Early_Access_to_Super_1.pdf

Need Advice?

Contact us via the following page. Calder Wealth Management

This is general advice only and does not take into account your financial circumstances, needs and objectives. Before making any decision based on this document, you should assess your own  circumstances or seek advice from a financial adviser and seek tax advice from a registered tax agent. Information is current at the date of issue and may change.

Latest News

Newsletters

Tags