New figures show there is nearly $18 billion in superannuation sitting in 6.3 million lost and tax office-held super accounts – one for every fourth Australian. On average, that is $2857 in super for every lost and tax office-held super account.
“By using myGov to track down your super, the money will be transferred to your preferred fund, generally within three working days,” said Assistant Commissioner Debbie Rawlings.
This is the first time the ATO has published figures for both unclaimed and lost super, and the figures are higher than expected. Through the introduction of tools to find lost super, more than 1.68 million accounts and $8.12 billion over the past four years hav been returned to the rightful owners.
With so much money sitting unclaimed or lost, there have been calls from the industry for the ATO to intervene and do as much as they can to return this money to the rightful owners.
“A move to place the responsibility on the ATO to reunite lost accounts with their true owners would be welcomed by consumers,” the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia chief policy officer Glen McCrea said.
To find out if you have a claim to some of the $18 billion in lost and unclaimed super, follow the instructions at ato.gov.au.
Have you previously used the tool to find lost or unclaimed super accounts? How much did you find? Did you find the process easy?
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