With the line between work and life becoming increasingly blurred, it follows that an employer’s influence on employee financial wellbeing has the potential to stretch beyond a regular pay packet. Proposed new budget measures suggest employers may soon have an opportunity to help employees save to purchase their first home.
First home owner super saver scheme: implications for salary packaging
The proposed 2017/18 budget changes allow first home buyers the opportunity to make pre-tax contributions to their superannuation fund to save for their first home. Those contributions, along with their associated deemed earnings, could then be withdrawn for a first home deposit (up to a cap of $30,000).
This provides a good opportunity for employers to make employees aware of their salary packaging options, including salary packaging into their superannuation fund, which may help them achieve their immediate financial goals and secure their first home. This is particularly applicable to younger employees who often dismiss superannuation as irrelevant, or not urgent.
Salary packaging: more than just voluntary superannuation
An often under-leveraged resource, salary packaging is a way to help your people manage their finances by maximising their in-pocket pay to reach their financial goals sooner – without giving them an expensive pay rise.
Salary packaging isn’t just limited to superannuation. Other benefits including novated leasing and items such as laptops, mobile phones and airline memberships – for personal use as well as professional – can also be purchased with pre-tax pay, raising the employee’s in-pocket earning potential.
Salary packaging offers untapped potential to businesses
Michael Ellies, CEO of Smartsalary, Smartgroup’s largest salary packaging brand, says there is often the potential for employers to extend their salary packaging offering and help employees make the most of their pay.
“Most employers tend to offer one or two salary packaging benefits, but often there is more that they could offer. When it comes to using salary packaging to engage employees without affecting your bottom line, there is a lot of untapped potential.”
Offering a comprehensive salary packaging program need not add to the workload of your team or put your benefits budget under pressure. Using an outsourced salary packaging provider, you can avoid the burden of administration, at minimal or no cost to your organisation.
Now is the perfect time to make your employees aware of the options they have to maximise their income with salary packaging so they are well poised to take advantage in the new financial year.
This article was prepared by Anton Gaudry, leading taxation specialist and advisor at Smartgroup.
For help interpreting and implementing the proposed ‘first home owner super saver scheme’ and communicating it to your employees, contact Smartgroup on 1300 665 855.
.jpg)
