The race is on to find $20.8 billion in super: ATO

NEW Australian Taxation Office (ATO) data shows that there is over $20.8 billion in lost and unclaimed super across Australia.

Today the ATO has published the amount of lost and unclaimed super by postcode to help people find their superannuation they have lost touch with.

Assistant Commissioner Graham Whyte said that last year over 540,000 active, lost and unclaimed super accounts worth more than $4.4 billion was consolidated using ATO online via myGov.

“Often people lose touch with their fund by simply changing jobs or moving home. It’s important to know that this doesn’t mean it’s lost forever, getting back in touch is easier than you think," Mr Whyte said.

"In addition, new legislation means that for the first time, we can now start reuniting Australians with their super, without them needing to take any action. We will let them know when we have done this."

The new law also requires super funds to report and pay ‘inactive low balance accounts’ to the ATO. This includes accounts that have not received a contribution for 16 months and have a balance below $6,000.

“In total, we’ve received over 2.3 million inactive low balance accounts from super funds, valued at approximately $2.16 billion," Mr Whyte said.

“We are now working to reunite Australians with these amounts by either transferring it into an active super account, or directly into their bank account where the amount is less than $200 or the member is aged over 65 years.

“So far, we have reunited just over 841,000 accounts worth nearly $1.38 billion. This includes approximately 684,000 accounts worth $1.22 billion that have been transferred into an individual’s active super account and approximately 157,000 accounts worth $161 million directly to individuals’ bank accounts. We will be continuing this work throughout November and into the future. We will let you know after we have reunited you with your super.

“We expect more than one million people will receive a direct payment," Mr Whyte said.

“With the ATO now able to reunite these inactive low balance accounts and previously unclaimed accounts, we’ve already started to see some incredible examples of people receiving meaningful boosts to their retirement savings.

“One woman aged 68 will be directly paid over $1.5 million that was unclaimed and she’d lost touch with.

“Another woman was previously reunited with over $600,000 of unclaimed super after losing her home in a bushfire. As she was over 65, we were able to pay that money directly to her and she is now able to use this money to rebuild her life.

“In this case, it wasn’t until the woman reached out to us that she realised she had so much super. That’s why it’s great that we can now start proactively reuniting people with their super that they might not know about.

“Anyone who thinks they may get a direct payment should make sure their bank account details are up to date by logging in to ATO online via MyGov.

 “Even if you won’t be eligible for a direct payment, it’s important to do your future a favour by engaging with your super now.

 “While it’s great that this new legislation means we can now proactively reunite Australians with their super, there are instances where we cannot reconnect you with your super.

“That’s why I recommend using ATO online to check that you aren’t missing out on any lost or unclaimed super that’s being held by us or your super fund ," Mr Whyte said.

For information on how to manage super and view all personal super accounts including lost and unclaimed super, visit ato.gov.au/checkyoursuper

To find out how much lost super is in a postcode and to see other superannuation statistics, visit ato.gov.au/lostsuper

Top 10 postcodes ranked by number of lost and unclaimed super account values as at 30 June 2019

Ranking	Postcode	State	Total number of accounts	Total value
1	2170 – Liverpool and surrounds	NSW	13,251	$81,085,282
2	3030 – Werribee and surrounds	VIC	9,966	$72,114,112
3	2560 – Campbelltown and surrounds	NSW	11,004	$63,231,975
4	2145 – Westmead and surrounds	NSW	8,807	$60,764,352
5	3977 – Cranbourne and surrounds	VIC	10,126	$58,918,901
6	3029 – Hoppers Crossing and Surrounds	VIC	8,883	$57,248,692
7	2026 – Bondi and surrounds	NSW	8,105	$56,000,248
8	2000 – Sydney CBD	NSW	8,295	$55,984,758
9	2010 – Surry Hills and Darlinghurst	NSW	7,493	55,732,148
10	2148 – Blacktown and surrounds	NSW	8,416	$52,838,249

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