EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Superannuation and Corporate Law
Temporary Residents’ Superannuation Legislation Amendment Act 2008
Proclamation
Subsection 2(1) of the Temporary Residents’ Superannuation Legislation 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 18 December 2008 as the day which Schedule 1 to the Act commences. Schedule 1 contains the operative provisions of the Act.
The Act provides the framework for the unclaimed superannuation of temporary residents to be paid to the Commonwealth following their departure from Australia. The amounts can be recovered from the Commissioner of Taxation at any time. Schedule 1 contains amendments to the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Act 1999, so that when temporary resident visa holders leave Australia without taking their superannuation with them, relevant amounts are reportable and payable to the Commissioner of Taxation as unclaimed superannuation.
Schedule 1 also contains consequential amendments to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 and the Taxation Administration Act 1953 to support the measure.
The commencement date enables the Australian Taxation Office and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, on behalf of the Commonwealth, to put systems in place to administer the collection of unclaimed superannuation in accordance with the Act.
The Proclamation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.