(1) A retired judge
who —
(a) is
in receipt of a pension under this Act; and
(b) is
liable to pay a surcharge as a result of becoming entitled to that pension,
may commute part of
the pension for the purpose of paying all or part of the surcharge.
(2) If a surcharge
becomes payable from the estate of a deceased judge or retired judge, a person
who is in receipt of a pension under section 7 as a result of the
judge’s or retired judge’s death may commute part of the pension
for the purpose of paying all or part of the surcharge on behalf of the
executor or administrator of the estate.
(3) A person wanting
to commute a pension under subsection (1) or (2) is to give to the Minister a
notice to that effect, setting out the amount of the lump sum benefit that the
person wants to be paid (the requested amount ), which cannot be more than the
surcharge.
(4) On receipt of a
notice under subsection (3) the Minister is to give to the person a notice
setting out the amount by which the person’s pension would be reduced
under subsection (6)(b) if the commutation was effected on the day on which
the Minister gives the notice.
(5) If, after
receiving the Minister’s notice, the person wants to proceed with the
commutation, the person is to give to the Minister a notice to that effect.
(6) On receipt by the
Minister of a notice under subsection (5) —
(a) the
person becomes entitled to a lump sum benefit of an amount equal to the
requested amount; and
(b) the
person’s pension (as at the date of that receipt) is reduced to an
amount determined by the Minister, on the advice of an actuary, to be
actuarially equivalent to the value of the pension before the application of
this section, reduced by the requested amount.
(7) A notice given to
the Minister for the purposes of this section is to be —
(a) made
in the form and manner, and given within the period, determined by the
Minister; and
(b)
accompanied by such information as is determined by the Minister.
(8) In this section
—
surcharge means an amount payable to the
Commissioner of Taxation under the
Superannuation Contributions Tax (Members of Constitutionally Protected
Superannuation Funds) Imposition Act 1997 of the Commonwealth or any other Act
of the Commonwealth prescribed for the purposes of this definition.
[Section 16 inserted: No. 65 of 2003 s. 104.]