POLITICIANS on generous taxpayer-funded defined benefits would be thousands of dollars better off than ordinary workers whose superannuation earnings will be slugged, the Opposition said last night.
Treasury modelling shows a retired politician on a pension of $250,000 a year would only be hit $13,125 a year in an equivalent impost set by actuaries.
Their notional earnings would be set at $187,500 for the purpose of calculating their hit, leaving them to pay 15 per cent tax on $87,500.
Super earnings above $100,000 will be hit with a 15 per cent tax, the government announced yesterday.
"They are being totally hypocritical, they are going after people who have been working and saving a lifetime to get themselves in a position where they can enjoy a comfortable retirement when they are in the top 0.2 per cent," Opposition superannuation spokesman Mathias Cormann said.
Treasurer Wayne Swan and Superannuation Minister Bill Shorten say the hit will affect just 16,000 people. Picture: Kym Smith
"They will not pay anywhere near the tax they will ask other people who have worked hard to fund their retirement to.
"Prime Minister Julia Gillard's taxpayer-funded pension is estimated to be around $177,000 a year with the total value of her pension estimated at more than $7 million.
The government will release draft legislation within weeks to apply equivalent superannuation changes introduced last year to Federal MPs' pensions and Federal judges.
It is understood it will also apply an equivalent of yesterday's hit.
A constitutional lawyer said the government could face a High Court challenge if it attempted to apply the impost to judges.
News Limited can reveal judges and state Members of Parliament will escape a hit on their pensions because the Federal Government found it would be unconstitutional.
The Federal Government has left state judges and state MPs out of the draft legislation, preserving their generous tax-payer funded defined benefit pensions.
Ordinary workers on $300,000 or more were slugged with a $3750 impost in last year's budget when the government doubled the tax rate on concessional contributions.
State judges were successful in a High Court challenge of the Howard government's super surcharge which found a limit to the Federal Government's power.
Constitutional lawyer George Williams said the government could also face a challenge if it attempts to take money from federal judges.
"When it comes to existing federal judges they (the government) are very much limited in what they can do, judges aren't allowed to have their pay decreased, the reason for that is you don't want money taken from judges if government don't like their decisions,'' Mr Williams said.
A leading organisation made up of judges and magistrates said it would wait to see the detail of the proposed legislation but did not rule out a High Court challenge.
Chair of the Judicial Conference's Governing Council Justice Philip McMurdo said there was a question whether judge's pensions could be hit "in a way that stands up to the constitution''.
He said judges in the Federal Court, Family Court and Federal Magistrate's Court are governed "by a provision in the constitution that says the remuneration of a judge cannot reduced.
"It just all depends on the detail.''
The Gillard government says only about 16,000 retirees will be impacted by changes to tax on super earnings.
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