EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law
Superannuation (Departing Australia Superannuation Payments Tax) Amendment Act 2008
Proclamation
Subsection 2(1) of the Superannuation (Departing Australia Superannuation Payments Tax) Amendment Act 2008 (the Act) provides that Schedule 1 to the Act commences on a day fixed by Proclamation. However, if any of the provisions of Schedule 1 do not commence within six months of the date the Act receives Royal Assent, then those provisions commence on the first day after the end of that six month period. The Act recently received Royal Assent.
The Proclamation fixes 1 April 2009 as the day which Schedule 1 to the Act commences. Schedule 1 contains the operative provisions of the Act.
The Act and the Temporary Residents’ Superannuation Legislation Amendment Act 2008 implement the Government’s Temporary Residents’ Superannuation measure. The Act raises the final withholding tax rates on superannuation payments made to temporary residents following their departure from Australia. The 5 per cent increase in tax rates is designed to recover some of the superannuation tax concessions provided to temporary residents once they have left Australia.
The commencement date provides temporary residents who are eligible to receive such payments, and superannuation providers, with the opportunity to adapt to the change before it commences.
The Proclamation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.