Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will present controversial changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax to Parliament on Thursday, pushing for speedy passage of the plans while flagging possible carve-outs for businesses beyond the startup sector. Source: The Guardian.
Labor’s pre-election promise of a $1,000 standard tax deduction will be included in the draft laws, along with the $250 “working Australians tax offset” announced in the budget.
Mr Albanese wants the “core” elements of the plan through Parliament by early July, setting up a challenge for the Coalition and One Nation, who would have to vote against the tax cuts if they choose to oppose the budget measures.
But Labor MPs expect today’s caucus meeting to include heated debate about the CGT changes amid a backlash from investors and startup founders.
The Guardian reports some within Labor are angry the budget message has drifted away from intergenerational fairness in the housing market, and that the government has struggled to explain the benefits of replacing the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount with an inflation-based model.
Mr Albanese wouldn’t be drawn on whether a Senate inquiry into the changes would be required, with the Greens likely to decide the legislation’s fate.
The government has tried to wrest the debate back into its preferred territory in recent days, attempting to reorient the focus away from the more complicated tax changes.
Asked about a public campaign criticising the effects of the CGT changes on businesses, including billboards at Canberra airport, the housing minister, Clare O’Neil, argued the budget was aimed at housing.
“Let’s remember here that the budget is about trying to reshape the housing opportunities for Australians and the people that we are thinking about are the millions of people around our country who are struggling right now.”
FULL STORY
Albanese forges ahead with CGT and negative gearing plan while flagging possible business carve-outs (By Tom McIlroy and Josh Butler, The Guardian)
