The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia says that current tax concessions for superannuants are viable in the medium-term, despite recent media claims that super tax breaks will cost the Budget $32 billion this year.

According to ASFA CEO Pauline Vamos, this figure is not an accurate representation of the true costs and benefits of supporting an ageing population.

In particular, she points out that the government’s support of the superannuation system, via tax concessions for instance, saves approximately $7 billion a year in aged pension expenditure – a sum that will only increase as the super system matures.

“Analysing the tax concessions applied to super is not as simple as just looking at the Tax Expenditure Statement. It’s important that all relevant factors are taken into account, to generate a more accurate picture of the incentives the Government provides to help people save for their retirement,” Vamos said.

“The bottom line is the system is sustainable for the medium-term so there is time to have a measured and informed debate.”

ASFA predicts that when all factors are considered, the actual cost of superannuation tax concessions on the community is closer to $16 billion annually.

“Importantly, this is money that is going towards a diversified, well-regulated pool of the community’s retirement savings. This will deliver many benefits to individuals, governments and the economy now and into the future,” says Ms Vamos.

The comments come after calls from some parts of the industry to consider tax reform in the upcoming May Budget.

“The ongoing erosion of the budget bottom line is a pressure point on our national purse strings that needs to be relieved,” Chartered Accountants Australia CEO Lee White said in a statement on Monday.

“The last thing we want, is to find ourselves – in ten or twenty years time – unable to pay for basic government services that we all currently take for granted.”

The Abbott government has promised a tax reform white paper in its first term.