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CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Date Introduced: 30 June 1999
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Treasury
To allow 2 years for the States/Territories to adapt their laws to meet the requirements of the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Bill 1999 relating to State/Territory authorities receiving unclaimed money and reporting standards for unclaimed money and lost members. The Bill will also amend a number of Acts to reflect title and other minor changes due to the proposed passage of the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Bill 1999.
Refer to the Digest for the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Bill 1999.
Clause 5 will effectively give the States/Territories 2 years to bring their laws regarding unclaimed money into line with the requirements of the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Bill 1999. It provides that if, before the commencement of the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Bill 1999, the State/Territory had a law in effect that required a superannuation provider to provide details and pay unclaimed money to a State/Territory authority and also satisfied the SIS and RSA legislation requirements regarding such a law, the superannuation provider is to continue reporting and paying to such an authority. The provision will cease to have effect from the first half-year after the end of the transition period, which is 2 years after the commencement of the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Bill 1999.
Details and payments of unclaimed money, and details of lost members, which have been provided to the Commissioner or a State/Territory authority in accordance with the SIS or RSA legislation, will be deemed to have been provided, or the money paid, in accordance with the Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Bill 1999 (clauses 6 and 7).
Sub-section 27A(3C) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA) includes in the definition of eligible termination payment (ETP) unclaimed money returned to a claimant under SIS. This results in concessional tax treatment of the money. The reference to SIS will be replaced by a reference to the proposed Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Act 1999. When calculating an ETP, account is taken of benefits accrued during the 'relevant service period', which can include the period while a person was a member of a fund. (item 3 of Schedule 1).
Item 4 will insert a new sub-section 27A(3D) into the ITAA which will make it clear that for the calculation of a relevant service period the time between money being paid as unclaimed money and later paid to the member will not be included.
The remaining provisions of the Bill deal with changes in references to reflect the passage of the proposed Superannuation (Unclaimed Money and Lost Members) Act 1999 and other proposed Acts.
Chris Field
30 July 1999
Bills Digest Service
Information and Research Services
This paper has been prepared for general distribution to Senators and Members of the Australian Parliament. While great care is taken to ensure that the paper is accurate and balanced, the paper is written using information publicly available at the time of production. The views expressed are those of the author and should not be attributed to the Information and Research Services (IRS). Advice on legislation or legal policy issues contained in this paper is provided for use in parliamentary debate and for related parliamentary purposes. This paper is not professional legal opinion. Readers are reminded that the paper is not an official parliamentary or Australian government document.
ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 1999
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Published by the Department of the Parliamentary Library, 1999.