The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is examining over 400 account owners who issued early release claims on their retirement savings. In the investigation, ATO will scrutinise taxpayers and organisations that may have used a system loophole to dodge eligibility compliance, as a way of gaining early access to their superannuations.
Investigators believe that many saw the government’s superannuation early access scheme as an opportunity to partially evade personal tax filing. To achieve this result, people may have submitted their allowance from the financial hardship tax-free measure into their super retirement savings, incurring a 15% tax on the amount rather than the whole 37%.
The ATO has also expressed concerns on people mis-stating their salary in order to qualify for relief programmes which targeted Australians who lost jobs or experienced reduced working hours due to the pandemic.
Almost 3,000 temporary residents who applied for the first round of the superannuation early access scheme were declared not eligible for further relief in the second round. The ATO now actively monitors the eligibility status of these sorts of requests.
According to the second commissioner at the ATO, up to 800 applications were deemed “potentially fraudulent”, and 1.3 million account holders have made requests to withdraw savings in both the rounds.
Simon Kahl, General Manager of The Loan Company, urged caution: “Australians who have drawn down on their superannuation under the early access scheme despite not being under financial stress may face penalties of more than $12,000 for each false and misleading statement.”
By early August, payments under the scheme totalled $35.16 billion.