Possibly but its kind of like moving into a higher tax bracket. Having said that, concession card eligibility may make some at borderline worse off overall
Yea
the earlier years 17 & 18 year reduction were direct result of Law changes. (Reduction of exempt defined benefit income from 50% to 10% and then the Tapering rate change from $3 to $1.50)
this one period reduction is not about the impact of law changes because there haven’t been any....
so this was my hypothesis.
Financial conditions on second / third property valuations (inheritance in sydney) and/or higher income as result of earning rates 20/21 (noting investment deeming rate also reduced to keep people on age pension). And yes the pensioner concession card would be lost (but eligibility for Comm seniors health care card would probably remain because it’s based only on taxable income as tax-free super isn’t counted For it)
the other observation is the inflow of new claimants turning 66.5/67 is likely to be affected by the strengthening impact of superannuation thus reducing the number signing up BECAUSE 60% - 70% plus of an increasingly larger cohort don’t meet the income threshold (inflow drops while outflow as result of death remains around 140,000 per annum). the IGR observes this as 85% of 85yo qualify but only 30-40% of the new cohort...
also, financial circumstances do change so some become eligible ‘down the track‘ in their mid/late 70s
also, depending on which of a couple had a defined benefits income stream (one or both) can see the surviving spouse lose eligibility based on the different thresholds for singles and couples...