Unpacking the new super tax: What Division 296 could mean for you |
Unpacking the new super tax: What Division 296 could mean for you
March 1, 2026 — 4:00am
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About midway through last year, you might have recalled an almighty hubbub about a new super tax, and how it was going to single-handedly ruin the economy, destroy our retirements, push over old ladies and steal your lunch money.
Attractively named “Division 296”, it proposes an additional 15 per cent tax on super balances that exceed $3 million, and 25 per cent for those over $10 million, though importantly, that tax only affects the earnings on the portion that exceeds those thresholds.
As often happens when the government mentions the phrase “new tax” and “super” in the same sentence, a portion of the population lost their minds, assuming that they’d be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in new taxes. Simultaneously, a different portion of the population went shopping for tiny violins.
After a couple of revisions – most notably one that removed an aspect of the bill that would tax unrealised capital gains – the bill looks set to become law, having been introduced to........