ATO Interpretative Decision

ATO ID 2002/290 (Withdrawn)

Superannuation

Reasonable benefit limit (RBL) reporting of superannuation pension originally commenced before 16 February 1990.
FOI status: may be released

This ATO ID is withdrawn from the database because it contains a view in respect of Division 14 of Part III of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (the RBL provisions). The RBL provisions do not apply for the 2007-08 income year and later income years. This ATO ID continues to be a precedential view in respect of decisions for income years up to, and including, the 2006-07 income years.

This document incorporates revisions made since original publication. View its history and amending notices, if applicable.

CAUTION: This is an edited and summarised record of a Tax Office decision. This record is not published as a form of advice. It is being made available for your inspection to meet FOI requirements, because it may be used by an officer in making another decision.

This ATOID provides you with the following level of protection:

If you reasonably apply this decision in good faith to your own circumstances (which are not materially different from those described in the decision), and the decision is later found to be incorrect you will not be liable to pay any penalty or interest. However, you will be required to pay any underpaid tax (or repay any over-claimed credit, grant or benefit), provided the time limits under the law allow it. If you do intend to apply this decision to your own circumstances, you will need to ensure that the relevant provisions referred to in the decision have not been amended or repealed. You may wish to obtain further advice from the Tax Office or from a professional adviser.

Issue

Is a superannuation pension that commenced before 1 July 1990 from a State Parliamentary Superannuation Scheme and was suspended due to the election of the member to Commonwealth Parliament and any future commutation reportable for RBL purposes.

Decision

No, a superannuation pension that commenced before 1 July 1990 from a State Parliamentary Superannuation Scheme and was suspended due to the election of the member to Commonwealth Parliament and any future commutation should not be reported for RBL purposes.

Facts

The taxpayer was a Member of a State Parliament before 1990.

He left the State Parliament and commenced a pension from the State Parliamentary Superannuation Scheme.

He received the pension for a short time and then was elected to the Commonwealth Parliament.

Under the provisions of the State Parliamentary Superannuation Scheme his pension was suspended until he is no longer a Member of Parliament.

Reasons for Decision

Subsection 140M(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (ITAA 1936) requires that a when a payer commences to make payments of a superannuation pension on or after 1 July 1994 and the pension counts towards the person's RBLs then the payer must notify the Commissioner.

Section 140J of the ITAA 1936 states that a pension commences to be paid at the beginning of the commencement day.

Subsection 140ZC(1) of the ITAA 1936 lists the benefits that count towards a person's RBLs subject to certain exclusions listed in subsection 140ZC(2) of the ITAA 1936. Those benefits include superannuation pensions where the commencement day is after 15 February 1990. Commencement day is defined in section 140C of the ITAA 1936 as the first day of the period to which the first payment relates.

The superannuation fund has indicated that the member's pension commenced to be paid before it was suspended.

As the superannuation pension commenced to be paid before 16 February 1990 it is not reportable for the purposes of RBL.

Commutations of superannuation pensions that commenced before 16 February 1990 are not required to be reported either as they are not counted ( paragraphs 140ZC(2)(b)&(c) of the ITAA 1936).

Date of decision: 16 July 2001

Legislative References:
Income Tax Assessment Act 1936
   section 140C
   section 140J
   section 140M
   section 140ZC

Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Regulations 1994
regulation 1.07

Keywords
Commutation
Reasonable benefit limits

Business Line: Superannuation

Date of publication: 28 March 2002

ISSN: 1445-2782

history

	Date:	Version:
	16 July 2001	Original statement
You are here	23 November 2007	Archived

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