Questions on the Age Pension and shares
In the words advisers, paraplanners and retirees use, each answer cited to the official page it rests on.
The rule. Report a change in shares within 14 days. Named in the sources: a buy, a sale, bonus shares. Any other change to the total number of shares the form asks for: report or confirm. A price movement is not on the list; listed shares are revalued on 20 March and 20 September. Every rule and its source.
What it takes. Trade lines only: date, code, buy or sell, quantity. Recognised account and holder numbers are removed; nothing leaves your browser until you save.
Who publishes it. The Art of Service, not affiliated with Services Australia; not financial advice. Check a history.
- Do I report dividend reinvestment for the Age Pension?Treat each allocation as a change to report. Some answers say buys and dividend reinvestment generally do not need reporting; the official texts say otherwise for buys, and a dividend reinvestment allocation changes the total number of shares.
- Do I report a change in share value?A price movement is not on the list of events to notify. Services Australia revalues listed shares itself on 20 March and 20 September each year, and when you ask.
- Selling one share and buying anotherA switch from one holding to another is two changes: the sale and the buy are each an event to notify within 14 days, even when the amounts match.
- Bonus shares and the Age PensionReceiving bonus shares is one of the events the Guide to Social Security Law lists for Age Pension recipients to notify within 14 days.
- Share splits and the 14-day ruleA split or a consolidation changes the number of shares without a buy or a sale. The pages read do not name it: report the new total, and confirm with Services Australia.
- A partner's sharesA change in a partner's income or assets is also a change to report, and the shares form asks for your share of ownership and your partner's.
- The 14-day rule explainedAge Pension recipients generally have 14 days to tell Services Australia about a change in circumstances. Where the 14 days end on a weekend or a public holiday, the period ends on the next working day.
- What counts as a change in the number of sharesA buy, a sale, bonus shares, a dividend reinvestment allocation, a split or consolidation, demerger or scheme scrip, a holding removed and a transfer in or out all change the number. A cash dividend and a price movement do not.
- Age Pension and sharesListed shares are financial investments in the assets and income tests, valued at the last sale price and revalued by Services Australia on 20 March and 20 September; a change in the number held is reported within 14 days.
- Age Pension reporting requirementsTell Services Australia within 14 days when your circumstances change, including your income and assets and your partner's. For shares: buying, selling, bonus shares, and a change in the total number held.