ATO to reap $480m in ‘lost super’

An estimated $480 million of ‘lost super' accounts will be transferred to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) on the back of legislative changes, according to a super body.

The changes will see the lost super threshold will increase from $2,000 to $4,000 on 31 December 2015, and a further increase to $6,000 in December 2016.

AIST chief executive, Tom Garcia, said if a super fund cannot contact a member, or there has not been any contributions made in the last five years, the account will probably be transferred to the ATO.

AIST noted although the money can be claimed back and will continue to earn interest at the ATO, accounts transferred will lose insurance benefits and can be difficult to track down.

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"When an account is re-directed to the ATO the insurance benefits associated with it will cease," Garcia said,

"This is a risk for casual and seasonal workers in particular."

Garcia said that tools and technology such as SuperSeeker is there to make locating and consolidating small super balances as simple as the click of a button.

"The emphasis should be on educating and communicating the benefits of keeping track of your super rather than simply increasing thresholds," he said.