The federal government of Australia has snatched $360 million from 80,000 bank accounts that had been idle for 3 years or more.
“We have grandparents who put money aside for their grandkids’ future and farmers who have set aside money for a rainy day, but it was transferred to the government,” stated Australian Bankers’ Association chief executive Steven Munchenberg.
Hey Australia, the US federal government doesn’t need any competition in thievery, ok!?
THE federal government has seized a record $360 million from household bank accounts that have been dormant for just three years, prompting outrage in some quarters amid complaints that pensioners and retirees have lost deposits.Figures from the Australian Security and Investments Commission (ASIC) show almost $360 million was collected from 80,000 inactive accounts in the year to May under new rules introduced by Labor. The new rules lowered the threshold at which the government is allowed to snatch funds from accounts that remain idle from seven years to three years.
The rule change has delivered the government a massive bonanza with the money collected in the year to May more than the total collected in the past five decades combined. Between 1959 and 2012, the total collected was $330 million.
Leaving your money untouched for just three years could see it snatched back by the government. Source: News Limited
While the purpose of the laws is actually to reunite people with lost accounts before funds are eroded by fees and other charges, the lower threshold has been criticised as a budget cash-grab which affected accounts that were neither lost or forgotten.
Connie Franze, 68, and her son Vince, 45, told Fairfax Media they were trying to reclaim life savings of more than $12,000 that was taken by the government last June.
Ninety per cent of the accounts seized by the government had balances of less than $5000, although some were worth millions.
CORRUPTION WORLDWIDE
That’s WRONG as HELL. PUT IT BACK .
$500 of my husband’s 401k was frozen by the govt and we don’t know why! If you wonder how they are going to take your retirement to redistribute wealth—-now you know!
they do the same thing here. my son went to northdakota to work. came back. and hus account had beeen clised as inactive. money gone
Travis that is just wrong!
Wrong .
When I worked at BBT we told people if your savings had no activity for a certain length of time it could happen; but you had a certain amount of time to get it back. To avoid it all you have to do is move it from saving to checking online and then back again. That was considered a transaction/activity on your account.
Making a deposit keeps it from being idle even if it’s just $1
Good Lord!!!!
does the insurance deposit protect them from the government taking the money ? if not then the people in Australia is $#%&!@*ed !!!