Australian farmers have today claimed a monumental win, with the Federal Government set to revise its proposed ‘Super Tax’ following strong and united advocacy from the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) and its members.
The change means the tax will now only apply to realised earnings and that superannuation balance thresholds will be indexed, which is a major step forward for fairness and security in farm succession planning.
AgForce President Shane McCarthy welcomed the decision, saying:
“This decision by the Federal Government is welcome and something that AgForce through its usual channels has been advocating for a sensible approach since it was first proposed by the Treasurer. It is great to see that sanity has prevailed and unrealised gains on capital are no longer considered and the threshold has been increased, therefore giving farming families more certainty in investing in their futures.”
AgForce representative on the NFF Sustainable Development and Climate Change Committee, Mark Collins, added:
“AgForce members will be happy with this decision. It is the result of long-term policy development and advocacy. Members have been concerned about the impacts of unrealised capital gains for family farm succession, and this is a welcome outcome. AgForce has been lobbying hard behind the scenes with NFF, and we are grateful the Treasurer has listened and acted on our concerns.”
This outcome represents a huge win for farmers, small business, and common sense — ensuring family farms can continue to plan for the future with confidence.
Modelling showed more than 3500 producers held farms inside Self-Managed super Funds and over 13,000 small business and real property assets would have been caught up in these changes.