I always thought those voluntary retirement schemes were weird! Another interesting feature of the schemes is that they need to be individually approved by the

I always thought those voluntary retirement schemes were weird! Another interesting feature of the schemes is that they need to be individually approved by the taxation office,[1], probably because payments under them are tax-free,[2] while 'normal' redundancy payments are often taxed at about 30%.[2] It's hard to see how it is in the public interest to promote these schemes with tax incentives. It would be interesting to see an official rationale for them. [1] eg. http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.htm?docid=%22CLR%2FCR201372%2FNAT%2FATO%2F00001%22 http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.htm?docid=%22CLR%2FCR20137... [2] https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Working/Working-as-an-employee/Leaving-the-workforce/Approved-early-retirement-schemes/ https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Working/Working-as-an-emp... [3] it gets complicated, but see page 6 of https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Content/MEI/downloads/BUS00355078N709800513.pdf https://www.ato.gov.au/uploadedFiles/Content/MEI/downloads/B...