Minimum Pension Rule 50% Relief for 2008/09

A SUPERCentral template document is now available in respect of the 50% pension rule relief announced by the Government.

Under this relief the minimum pension rule as it applies for 2008/09 is modified to only require the trustee to pay at least 50% of the minimum pension which it would otherwise be required to pay.

Whether this relief is extended to 2009/10 will be announced during June 2009.

The template document is in the form of a trustee resolution, which permits the trustee to formally reduce the minimum pension limit for 2008/09 to 50% of what would otherwise have been the limit.

The relief is provided by Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Amendment Regulations 2009 (No 2) 16 March 2009 and applies to account-based pensions (including transition to retirement pensions), allocated pensions and market-linked pensions.