MySuper already imposing higher costs

The Government has been told it is ironic that the first step towards the implementation of its supposedly low-cost superannuation product, MySuper, is an increase in costs.

It has also been told in a submission from the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) should fund more of its own costs, and that the Government should reduce the levies it intends imposing on the financial services industry this year.

In a submission to the Treasury filed this month, ASFA has pointed to a 22.5 per cent increase in the Financial Institutions Supervisory Levies for the new financial year and claims this is being imposed despite the number of superannuation funds being regulated by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) having fallen.

It said a significant contributor to the increase is an additional $4.2 million allocated in the Budget for the start of work supporting the Government’s so-called Stronger Super initiatives, and points to the irony that one of the first outcomes from adopting MySuper and related initiatives is an increase in costs.

The submission also pointed to a 5.9 per cent increase in the amount of the levy apportioned to the ATO to run the Lost Members Register (LMR) – something which it said was not commensurate with the volume of enquiries handled and what is involved in maintaining an electronic register.

“In these circumstances ASFA does not consider that it is appropriate that superannuation funds should be levied for the claimed costs of running the LMR,” it said.