Early_Access_to_Super_1
March 24th, 2020
Ear ly
a
ccess to
s
u pera n nuati on
FACT SHEET
ECONOMI C RES PONSE TO THE CORONAVIRUS
The Government is
allow
ing
individuals affected by the Coronavirus to
access
up to $10,000
of
their superannuation in 2019
–
20 and a further $10,000 in
2020
–
21.
TEMPORARY EARLY ACCE
SS TO SUPERANNUATION
S u mmar y
While superannuation help
s
peo ple save f o r retirement, the Go vernmen t recognises that f or tho se
signif icantly financially
af fected by the Coronavirus
,
accessing
so me
o f their
superannuation today may
outwei
gh the benef its o f maintaini ng tho se savings until retirement.
Eligibl e indivi duals
will be able toapply online thro ughmyGo v
to
access up to $10,000 o f
their
superannuati on
befo re 1 July 2020
.
They
will also be able to access up to a further $10,000 fro
m 1
July
2020
for appro ximately three
mo nths
(
exact timing
will depend on
the passage of th e relevant legislation)
.
E lig ib ilit y
To apply f or early release
yo u
must satisfy
any
one
or mo re
of the fo llowing requirements:
Ł
you are
unemployed; or
Ł
you are
eligible to receive a jo b seeker payment, youth allowan ce f o r jobseekers, parenting payment
(whi ch i ncludes the s
ingle and partnered payments),
special benef i t
o r
f arm ho usehold allo wance; o r
Ł
on or
af ter
1 January 2020:
y
ou
w
ere
made redundant; or
your
wor
king ho urs were reduced by 20 per cen t or mo re; o r
if
you are
a sole trader
Š
your
business was suspend ed or there was a redu ction in
your
turnover of 20 per cen t or mo re.
Peo ple accessing their superannuation will
not need to pay tax o n amounts rel eased and the money they
withdraw will no t affect Centrelink o r Veterans
™
Affairs paymen ts.
H ow t o ap p ly
If you are eligible f or this new gro und of early release, you can app ly directly to the ATO through the my Go v
website:
www.
my.gov
.au
. You will
need
to certif y th at you meet the
above
eligibility criteria.
Af ter the ATO has processed your application, they will issue you with a determination. Th e ATO will also
provide a co py o
f this determination to your superan nuatio n fund, which will
advise
them to release your
superannuati on payment. Yo ur f und wil l then make the pay ment to yo u, without yo u needi ng to apply to
them directly . Ho wever, to ensure you receive your payment as soo n
as possible, you
sho uld
co ntact your
f und to check that they have your correct details, i ncl uding your cu rrent bank account details and proof of
identi ty docu ments.
S eparate arrangements wil l apply if you are a member of a self
–
managed superannuation f und
( SMSF) .
F urther gui dance
will be
av ailable o n the ATO website:
www.ato.gov.au
.
T imin g
You will be able to apply f o r early release of your su perannuation f rom
mi d
–
April 2020
.
Budget impact
This measure is expected to
have a cost of
$1.15 billion
o ver the f orward estimates.
2
Ed the b artender
Ed wo rks i n a popular bar i n Melbo urn e. As a result of the Co ronavirus, Ed has h ad his work ho urs
reduced fro m 40 hours
o n average in th e second half of 2019
to 20 ho urs per week
o n average in
May
2020
.
As a result, Ed d etermines th at his hours o ver the last mo n
th have reduced by more than
20
per cen t compared to the average of his ho urs ov er the last si x mo nths of 2019.
Ed deci des to apply for the early release of $8,000 o f his s
uperann uatio n
in
May 2020 to hel p pay his ren t
and other living expenses. Ed
self
–
certif i es that he i
s eligible f o r early release on my Gov
. H e could have
applied f or u p to $10,000, but cho se not to . Ed canno t seek any further early release of superannuatio
n
in 2019
–
20
on the grou nds that he has been af f ected by the adverse
economic effects of
th e
Coronavirus
.
Ho wever, Ed
f inds
after 1 July 2020 that
his ho urs
continue to be reduced by more than 20 p er cent
co mpared to the average of his ho urs in the last si
x months of 2019. Ed
decides to make a seco nd
applicatio n
and self
–
certif i es
thro ugh myGo v
that he is eligibl e f or early release
.
H
e is able to apply again
f or a release of up to $10,000 of his superannuatio n. Ed submits a seco nd appl ication f o r the f ull a
mount
o f $10,000 this time.
F or each appl ication, the ATO appro ves Ed
™
s ear
ly rel ease and noti f ies bo th him
and
his
su perannuation
f und. Ed
has received
a total o f $18,000
of his superannuation
in two separate payments
. He will no t be
taxed on this amount
and i s f ree to spen d this money on anythi ng he choo ses, o r save it fo r future
expenses. H e is also f ree to reco ntribute any unused amounts to his superann uatio n in the f uture
(wi thi n
his co ntri buti o n cap
s)
.
Rachel
th e so le trad er
Rachel
is a sole trader wi
th a catering business. At the end of July 2020, Rachel seeks to apply f or an early
release fro m her superan nuatio n for the 2020
–
21 fin ancial year.
Due to the eco nomic ef f ects of th e co ro navirus, Rachel
™
s turno ver fo r July is $5,000 co mpared to
$10,000
on
averagepermonth f or thesecond half o f 2019.Rachel therefo re determines that her
turno ver has reduced by mo re than 20
per
cent co mpared to her ave
rage turno ver over the last
six
months o f
2019.
Rachel self
–
certif ies that she is eligible fo r early
release and applies to have $10,000 released f ro m her
superannuati on.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
For mo re information on the Australian Go vernment
™
s Eco nomi c Respo nse to
the
Coro navirus visit
treasury.gov.au/
co ro navirus
.
Businesses can visit
business.gov.au
to find ou t more abo ut ho w the Econo mic Response co mplements the
range of supp ort available to small an d mediu m busi nesses.