A welcomed announcement out of this year’s budget was the proposed measure to allow those with certain legacy pensions to effectively cease them during a two-year period, which is expected to commence on 1 July 2022. Whilst the measure provides an escape route for those with these pensions which are generally non-commutable, there may be some traps along the way, as well as some being left behind. Let’s consider how this measure may be implemented and what traps could be encountered along the way.

The Federal Government released today its Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO), noting that the delayed 2020 Federal Budget was only released on 6 October 2020. There was an interesting proposed change to enable the partial commutation of certain non-commutable pensions included in the MYEFO papers.

Various industry bodies, including the SMSF Association and the Tax Institute, have all raised the need for reform to help retirees trapped in legacy income streams in self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs). The Actuaries Institute has now joined the chorus for change with its own submission to Treasury.