My first post but I have certainly benefited greatly from the contributors to this forum over a number of years as the prospect of retiring at 55 after just over 30 years in the APS grew from a thought to, a couple of months ago, a reality. Accordingly, my sincere thanks to all those who contributed great info that helped me ensure that I was operating on solid basis.
I am pleased to say that the whole experience has been overwhelmingly positive. With a large amount of accrued leave, I was able to adopt the approach of a retirement "test period" for almost a year and was very comfortable that I was ready. My favourite retirement cliche at the moment is "I don't know how I used to fit everything in...".
Apart from some modest delays caused by my former employer, the administrative steps involved in going into pension phase were fairly straightforward and the APS Payments team at CSC were very helpful. Furthermore, reality – in terms of calculations, etc – has reassuringly conformed with estimates.
Getting to the point of my post I have, however, had one unexpected hitch that I was hoping this group might have some insight into. The unequivocal advice from my CSC financial advisor was that I should pay my accumulated Div293 debt from the PSSap account that I had set up some time ago for the purpose of some additional contributions. Accordingly, when completing my PSSdb paperwork and in correspondence with the APS Payments team I indicated that I intended to take this course. This all seemed fine – no eyebrows raised.
Some weeks after going into pension mode, I received the anticipated bill from the ATO requiring payment of my Div293 debt. The surprise, however, was that the only option presented to pay it via release from super clearly identified my PSSdb account as the fund from which payment would be requested. I phoned the ATO – thinking that I would just have to ask for a new form that provided for release from my PSSap account. To my greater surprise, I was told that I was not permitted to pay via release from that super account. I was referred to this ATO webpage:
and, in particular, the sentence that reads "The debt account discharge liability release authority can only be presented to the fund the defined benefit super account is attributed to”.
Subsequent contact with both my CSC advisor and CSC itself has seen them maintaining that they believe it should be possible. Before deciding whether to join issue with the ATO or suck it up and enter a payment plan to pay it in cash, I was hoping that someone here might have some knowledge that might be able to share?
Is the PSSdb really a separate fund to PSSap (as opposed to a separate account)? And how do they expect you to pay it if not from an accumulation account?
Thanks for your comments John_S.
PSSdb and PSSap certainly have distinct "USI" numbers – Unique Superannuation Identifier.
Prior to going into pension mode you can elect to have the debt paid from PSSdb, however this necessarily reduces your pension (forever?). Presumably this is why the clear advice I received was not to take this option. If for some reason I wanted to do so know, CSC advised that I would need to apply for a cancellation and reformulation of my pension – not gonna happen...