In its submission to the Treasury consultation paper on the levy, ASFA highlighted the prudential regulator’s failure to publish an updated Cost Recovery Impact Statement (CRIS) in relation to the financial industry levies it collects.
“The lack of a CRIS seriously impedes industry’s ability to assess the appropriateness of the levies proposed for 2014-15,” said the ASFA submission.
The lobby group said it “understands” that APRA has undertaken to complete an updated CRIS by ‘June 2014’.
But before the 2014/2015 levy is settled, APRA should publish and seek comment on an updated CRIS, said ASFA.
“It is regrettable that industry is once again in the position of considering proposed levy amounts without access to the level of information necessary to make an informed assessment of the level of costs the regulators are seeking to recover,” said the submission.
Along with the lack of a CRIS, the lobby group was also critical of the short 14-business day consultation period, which ended on Friday 13 June.
“The period allowed for consultation on the 2014-15 levies is, as in past years, simply inadequate,” said ASFA.
“ASFA strongly endorses the recommendations of the ANAO Audit Report that Treasury should provide additional time and opportunities for stakeholders to participate in the annual levies consultation process,” said the submission.
The lobby group was also critical about the SuperStream component of the levy, with “many issues raised by the industry … yet to be addressed”.
“[The] industry has not been provided with adequately detailed information supporting the amount of the SuperStream component sought to be recovered via the levy, or a proper accounting for the expenditure of amounts previously levied,” said the submission.
“The component is also applied inequitably, being recovered from APRA-regulated funds only, with no attempt to recover any portion of the ATO’s SuperStream related costs from SMSFs, and no recognition of the benefits delivered to non-levied entities, such as employers,” said ASFA.
