Superannuation refers to a special provision made by the Australian government to motivate people living in Australia to save funds for their post-retirement phase. It can be referred to as a pension plan or a type of employment funded pension, which is partly mandatory in Australia and enjoys tax benefits.
Australia, too, hasn’t been unaffected with the outbreak of Covid-19, and the residents are bestowed little more time to apply for the release of superannuation.
As per the latest economic and fiscal updates released by the Government of Australia, the early limit for superannuation applications has now been extended to 31st December 2020. Before being hit by the deadly COVID-19 pandemic, all eligible citizens and permanent residents of New Zealand and Australia were given the time limit up to 24th September to apply for superannuation via ATO online service in myGov.
The scheme now empowers the applicants to withdraw by 30th June the maximum amount of $10,000, succeeded by withdrawal up to $10,000 from the very next day of July. Early access has been an essential feature of superannuation for those facing financial crunches. The COVID-19 just facilitated the early access choice to the people if they have professionally undergone at least 20 hours or more working hour reduction.
Figures of folks benefitted in Australia till date with superannuation.
- The figures for withdrawal from the scheme have been $25.3 billion from the commencement of the program.
- Also, over 2.8 million applications for withdrawal have been received ever since the liberty was offered.
- Applications to have access to the superannuation fund from 1st July to 12th July have been 818,000.
- The average payment from the month of inception has been $7, 718 with an expected rise to &8,755 on reconsideration of application in July.
ATO to check eligibility of applicants
The ATO has declared to scrutinize every application to ensure that the integrity of the scheme is maintained and not misused. Data from over 3 million Australians have been verified to check eligibility for the release of super, augment cash flow, and job keeper release.
ATO has now come up with some stringent steps to check applicants’ eligibility by investigating the trends of their salary and wages, information about their employment, etc. It is now firmly putting a check over the eligibility criteria as the folks have been found guilty of arranging the affairs through fraudulent acts. ATO will also take into account the applications for the early release of superannuation to procure tax benefits.