In this submission Chartered Accountants ANZ and CPA Australia applauded the government for seeking to reduce red tape with these proposed measures, and hence potentially reduce operating costs, in the superannuation regulatory environment.

The submission focused on the following exposure draft amendments to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA97):

• Proposed change to impact of a fund having disregarded small fund assets (new subsection 295-387(3)) – the major accounting bodies supported this measure; an additional amendment was requested namely that the reference to $1.6 million in sub-sub-paragraph 295-387(2)(c)(i) be subject to consumer price index increases that apply to the general transfer balance cap.
• Proposal to permit choice for trustees calculating exempt current pension income (new subsections 295-385(8), (9) and (10)) – the major accounting bodies did not support this measure.

In its place the major accounting bodies requested that government consider an amendment proposed by CA ANZ in its 2018 pre-budget submission.  That proposal recommended that the ECPI rules be amended to permit greater flexibility for funds with a mix of pension and accumulation money for part of the income year.