State revenues under threat: PM

Original article by Primrose Riordan, Ben Packham, Ben Wilmot
The Australian – Page: 6 : 1-May-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says Labor’s proposed changes to the negative gearing and capital gains tax regimes could result in lower GST and stamp duty revenue for state governments. He added that the states should seek a guarantee from Labor that its reforms would not affect their revenue. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen in turn has blamed the Coalition for the housing market downturn, which has reduced state governments’ stamp duty revenue.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, REAL ESTATE INSTITUTE OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Top 10 housing stress seats all held by Labor

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 1-Apr-19

Labor is hoping to make housing more affordable if it wins the federal election by implementing changes to the negative gearing and capital gains tax regimes. Analysis conducted by the National Centre for Social & Economic Modelling indicates that the 10 electorates with the highest level of housing stress are all held by Labor, while Digital Finance Analytics estimates that the number of households facing mortgage stress now exceeds one million. The NATSEM analysis also indicates that Labor holds eight of the 10 seats with the highest level of poverty.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA. NATIONAL CENTRE FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC MODELLING, DIGITAL FINANCE ANALYTICS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Property tax crackdown from Jan 1

Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 29-Mar-19

Labor is set to announce that its proposed changes to the negative gearing and capital gains tax regimes will take effect from the start of January 2020 if it wins the federal election. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen will state on 29 March that this will give investors sufficient time to prepare for the reforms, which Labor had initially flagged more than three years ago. Labor’s reforms would most likely require the support of at least two independents in the upper house, in addition to the Greens.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, ONE NATION PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE, FINANCIAL SERVICES COUNCIL

SQM urges phasing in of gearing reforms

Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 35 & 38 : 21-Mar-19

SQM Research MD Louis Christopher says Labor should implement its proposed negative gearing and capital gains tax reforms gradually if it wins the federal election, to avoid a "shock" to the broader economy. Research by SQM suggests that Labor’s reforms could potentially result in a 12 per cent decline in residential property prices over three years, while rents could rise sharply as supply is reduced. SQM adds that two official interest rate cuts by January 2020 would see housing prices fall by just 4-8 over three years, as well as lower rent increases.

CORPORATES
SQM RESEARCH PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

ALP’s tax reforms will sting its voters

Original article by Adam Creighton, Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 21-Jan-19

Sixteen per cent of those who voted Labor at the 2016 federal election owned an investment property, according to research by the Australian National University. With Labor planning to make changes to negative gearing if it wins the next election, ANU professor Ian McAllister notes that 16 per cent of Labor voters "equates to a lot of voters". He says the fact that Labor plans to grandfather its changes could reduce the possible impact to its vote. Meanwhile, a study of Australian Taxation Office data indicates that over 200,000 voters in Labor-held seats could be affected by its plans to increase capital gains tax.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

ALP’s tax plan hurts workers, says Frydenberg

Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 4 : 15-Jan-19

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that low- and middle-income earners would bear the brunt of Labor’s proposed capital gains tax reforms. According to the ABS, some 194,000 middle-income earners had a capital gain in 2016, compared with just 70,635 people whose taxable income exceeded $180,000. The figures also show that middle-income earners made an average capital gains of $9,176, while the average capital gain for people on high incomes was $164,710.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

ALP’s property-tax hit may be imposed as early as July

Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 25-Oct-18

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has defended Labor’s proposed negative gearing and capital gains tax reforms, amid concern about their impact on dwelling construction. He says modelling commissioned by Master Builders Australia is flawed as it does not take into account the fact that negative gearing changes will be "grandfathered". MBA CEO Denita Wawn argues that the grandfathering provisions will have no effect on future investment decisions. Sources have indicated that a Labor government would implement the negative gearing reforms from July 2020, and possibly a year earlier if the federal election is called before the end of 2018.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, CADENCE ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Labor risks $12bn housing hit

Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 24-Oct-18

Independent modelling by Cadence Economics has examined the likely impact of Labor’s proposed negative gearing and capital gains tax reforms on the residential property market. It concludes that the policy could result in new dwelling commencements falling by between 10,000 and 42,000 over a five-year period. This would in turn reduce construction activity by up to $12bn over this period and result in between 7,500 and 32,000 fewer jobs in the sector. Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn notes that housing approvals have peaked since Labor announced its policy two years ago.

CORPORATES
CADENCE ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Top 10pc gain 80pc of CGT benefits

Original article by Joanna Mather
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 22-Jan-18

The percentage of the yearly benefits of the capital gains tax discount that goes to the highest income earners has increased from 70 per cent to 80 per cent over the last 10 years or so, according to the Australian Taxation Office. Danielle Wood from the Grattan Institute says this suggests that the 50 per cent discount on capital gains needs to be modified. The presence of the discount, when combined with negative gearing, is seen by experts as making the leverage of real estate a particularly attractive proposition for investors.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN HOUSING AND URBAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Labor to stick with negative gearing policy

Original article by Andrew Tillett, Misa Han
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 9-Jan-18

The Australian Labor Party has argued that a Treasury analysis produced almost two years ago demonstrates that its policy on negative gearing will boost housing affordability. The analysis, which was obtained under Freedom of Information laws, concluded that Labor’s proposed changes to the negative gearing and capital gains tax regimes would have relatively little negative effect on house prices. Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has indicated that the proposed reforms will be part of Labor’s policy platform at the next federal election.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED