Pressure mounts on govt to end 10pc rule

In a LinkedIn forum, F D Browne & Co principal Chris Browne argued that the 10 per cent rule fits the category of a “grossly prejudiced tax law against the relatively small number of taxpayers that it affects”.

“There is no justification for singling this group out as being ineligible for tax concessions which are available to others,” said Mr Browne.

According to Mr Browne, the rule “adversely affects those switching from employment to self-employment or vice-versa within a year”.

“For some it can be very hard to know with any certainty that they have passed the 10 per cent test until after 30 June, by which time it is too late to contribute,” he said.

Financial and Technical Solutions principal Tony Negline expressed a similar view, stating the 10 per cent rule has “achieved very little other than unnecessary complexity”.

“[However,] with the federal Budget under stress I’ll be surprised if the government opens the flood gates on deductibility of super contributions,” said Mr Negline.

Partner at Deloitte Australia Michael Ward said allowing taxpayers to make deductible top up contributions is the first step in giving taxpayers more control over their super.

Superannuation will then be seen with greater relevance by taxpayers, he said.

Meg Heffron, head of customer at Heffron SMSF Solutions, said the test was likely a very crude means of limiting contributions back when limits on contributions were dealt with by limiting the tax deductions available to the contributor rather than imposing a limit on the recipient.

“It’s very clearly unnecessary now that caps are imposed in aggregate at an individual level [and] should have been killed off years ago,” said Ms Heffron.