I have some sympathy for the removal of the refund of excess imputation credits, but the way Bowen has gone about its removal is very blunt indeed.
It takes no account of retirees who have played by the rules, and retired knowing that the refund of imputation credits would supplement a moderate dividend income stream. Take the refund away, and their retirement calculations are screwed.
I have no idea why Bowen doesn’t simply put an upper limit on how big the annual refund can be. That would help the budget, and at the same time provide some comfort for people caught up by this change.
