Treasurer Jim Chalmers is in a race against time to convince his political opponents to support his superannuation tax changes, even after the most contentious elements were stripped out.
Dr Chalmers on Friday released draft legislation for the proposed tax, which would double the tax on super balances over $3 million to 30 per cent and apply a 40 per cent tax on earnings above $10 million, if passed.
In October, critics welcomed Labor's backdown over the most controversial aspects of the proposal by axing a tax on unrealised capital gains and agreeing to index the balance thresholds.
But more than three months later, there are no signs the Greens or the coalition are closer to agreeing to give the new proposal their support.
Labor needs support from either party to pass the bill through the Senate.
Nevertheless, Dr Chalmers said he intended to introduce the laws to parliament "as soon as possible in 2026".
"The amendments maintain the concessional treatment of superannuation and makes superannuation tax concessions more targeted for those with large balances," he said.
Dr Chalmers is rushing to get the laws in place, with consultation set to end on January 16, as the changes are due to apply from July 1.
The Greens are yet to arrive at a position on the new policy as they pore over the details of the draft bill.
But, when the backflip was announced in October, economics spokesperson Nick McKim accused Labor of capitulating to the wealthiest people in the country at the expense of everyday working Australians.
Coalition support is also yet to materialise.
Despite welcoming the removal of what it saw as the more objectionable aspects of the policy, shadow treasurer Ted O'Brien described it as an egregious money grab and raised concerns over how it could be practically implemented without impacting unrealised gains.
The changes will particularly impact self-managed super funds, given only a handful of members of larger APRA-regulated funds will be affected.
The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia was confident Treasury's proposed new method of calculating the tax would not result in prohibitive costs for APRA-regulated funds and would only apply to realised gains.
"There's no doubt the timing is tight, but it's manageable," chief executive Mary Delahunty told AAP.
"We're really quite happy with the way in which Treasury and the government have interacted with the sector on this."
Treasury said the new laws were expected to affect less than 0.5 per cent of superannuation account holders, or about 80,000, with only 0.1 per cent of superannuation accounts captured by the higher 40 per cent tax.
The tax increase will be accompanied by a separate boost to the Low‑Income Superannuation Tax Offset, which could add about $15,000 extra to retirement balances for more than a million low-paid workers.
