SMSF Association submission on the implications of removing refundable franking credits

SMSF Association submission on the implications of removing refundable franking credits

SMSF Association Submission

The SMSF Association (SMSFA) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics on the inquiry into the implications of removing refundable franking credits.

We strongly oppose the current Australian Labor Party (ALP) proposal to remove refundable franking credits on the basis that the policy is flawed and inequitable to many Australians.

The submission highlights throughout:

  • The SMSFA believes the dividend imputation system was designed to ‘impute’ the tax paid at the corporate level to the company’s owners.
  • The implementation of the policy inequitably targets SMSFs as a retirement saving structure.
  • The revenue estimated by the ALP is unlikely to be collected by government through the policy.
  • The expected behavioural changes from individuals responding to the policy change will have significant impact on retirement savings, government revenue and capital markets.