Trans-Tasman SMSF transfers not accepted

The Trans-Tasman superannuation agreement recently reached by New Zealand and Australia has been left somewhat unfinished after it was announced that self-managed super funds were not able to be transferred as part of the deal, due to New Zealand regulators rejecting the idea.

Multiple Australian associations and Mercer submitted their thoughts, in particular that it was disappointing that New Zealand SMSFs couldn’t be transferred to Australian super accounts. The requests for explanations to regulators in New Zealand have gone unanswered, and the draft regulations do not seem to have been updated with anything new.

Additionally, the draft as it stands states that any monies transferred to an Australian super fund must be kept separate from other monies in that account, and are subject to New Zealand’s retirement age of 65 ‘for now’.