Can my wife exit her super plan and claim a loss on capital put into super which could then be used to offset a capital gain from share sales?

Q.

My wife is over 60 and is in an industry super fund. Whilst retired, the fund is still in accumulation phase. The contributions through her employer were modest $40K but we added $300k in cash to the fund two years ago. There has been a very significant reduction in the fund balance. My wife has enjoyed a significant capital gain of approximately $200K this year from the sale of shares in two companies (cash takeovers) but has no losses to offset. Can she exit the super plan and claim a loss on capital put into super which could then be used to offset a capital gain from share sales?

Your wife can withdraw the funds tax free as she is over 60 and retired and she is entitled to make a tax deductible contribution of up to $100,000 to super which could reduce any capital gains tax payment. Obviously, she is free to do as she wishes but I wonder why she wants to remove her money from the low tax superannuation environment. Long term, she is almost certainly better to leave the funds within superannuation while the stock market recovers.