A member with a total super balance of less than $500k, as at the end of the previous financial year, can make a personal concessional contribution based on this year’s cap plus the unused portion of the caps for the previous 5 years. This can amount to a substantial amount which has been useful in reducing the tax payable on realised gains to, in many cases, zero.

The budget intends that a 30% minimum tax on net capital gains will kick in for individuals, trusts and partnerships from 1 July 2027, on that portion of the assessable capital gain that has accrued from that date. Treasury was unusually candid about the reason why: the 30% minimum tax on capital gains means there’s less or no benefit in selling assets in years when your income is low. The strategy will still exist, but its effect will be significantly diluted for the very group it was most useful for — retirees and lower-income earners crystallising a large gain in a low-income year. For top-bracket clients, the per-dollar effectiveness of the contribution deduction itself barely changes – though the underlying gain will probably be larger with the CGT calculation method changing from discount to CPI indexed.

There is a narrow exception: those receiving income support, including the Age Pension, will be exempt from the minimum tax.

Of course, nothing is law at the moment but I don’t see any real prospect of it not becoming so given the makeup of both houses of Parliament.