TAXATION – GOVERNMENT POLICY – AUSTRALIA

Super funds set to avoid CGT change

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Original article by John Kehoe, Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 1-May-26

The federal government’s widely-tipped changes to the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount are likely to affect personal investors who have held assets such as property and shares for more than one year. However, sources claim that the government has told superannuation funds that the budget on 12 May will not include any major changes that will affect them. This suggests that super funds’ current CGT discount on their earnings will be retained. Meanwhile, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has not explicitly ruled out exempting any existing assets from potential changes to the CGT discount, although he has indicated that any impact on such assets would be minimal.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Tax take hits record $30,633 per person

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The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 22-Apr-26

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the combined tax revenue of the federal and state governments rose to a record $839bn in 2024-25. This was boosted by higher revenue from the goods and services tax and personal income tax. The latter increased by 1.5 per cent and accounted for 11.1 per cent of GDP; the Parliamentary Budget Office has estimated that this will increase to 14.5 per cent in 2036, due to the impact of ‘bracket creep’. The ABS figures also show that the cost of disability benefits – including the NDIS – increased by 9.4 per cent in 2024-25 to a record high of $87.3bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

The Geoff Wilson model for CGT change

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 10-Feb-26

Wilson Asset Management’s founder Geoff Wilson supports changes to the capital gains tax discount for existing homes. He stresses that any such reforms must be revenue-neutral rather than a budget "cash grab". Wilson adds that CGT reforms must ensure that capital is moved from non-productive assets such as property to productive assets. He says one option would be to reduce the CGT discount for purchases of existing houses for investors to about 25 per cent while increasing the discount on investing in Australian businesses to 75 per cent. Wilson will appear before a Senate Inquiry into CGT in coming weeks. The CGT discount applies to any asset that has been held for at least 12 months.

CORPORATES
WILSON ASSET MANAGEMENT

Fix cruel taxes for younger workers: Kelty

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 7-Jan-26

Former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty has urged the federal government to pursue tax reform, contending that the current tax system disadvantages younger workers in particular. Amongst other things, Kelty has advocated reducing the tax rates of wage earners who do not receive income from capital gains, trusts and negatively-geared properties. The Parliamentary Budget Office has forecast that the average tax rate for workers will rise to 27.8 per cent of their income over the next decade; this compares with about 24.5 per cent at present. Kelty notes that in contrast, investors who receive income from property and shares incur a maximum capital gains tax rate of just 23.5 per cent for assets that they have held for more than 12 months.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

Scramble for super CGT clarity

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Oct-25

The federal government’s decision to abandon a proposal to tax the unrealised capital gains of large superannuation accounts has been welcomed by financial advisers. The government will now only tax the realised capital gains of super accounts with balances of more than $3m, with the tax rate to be doubled to 30 per cent; super accounts with more than $10m will be taxed at 40 per cent. The reforms are slated to take effect from mid-2026, but financial advisers and their clients want Treasurer Jim Chalmers to clarify whether the higher tax rates will apply to gains that are accrued before this date.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Roundtable revolt on super

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 2-Jul-25

The federal government’s economic reform roundtable is set to be inundated with submissions from business leaders, the union movement and special interest groups. Many of these submissions are likely to propose alternatives to Labor’s superannuation tax reforms, particularly the controversial plan to tax the unrealised capital gains of super funds. Critics of this provision of the reforms contend that at the very least the $3m threshold should be indexed to inflation. Financial services industry veteran Geoff Wilson has previously warned that taxing unrealised gains will have a negative impact on productivity.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

GST warning in roundtable revamp

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Original article by Matthew Cranston, Greg Brown, Sarah Elks
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 25-Jun-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had pitched the federal government’s plans to bring unions, business leaders and community groups together in August as a productivity roundtable. However, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has sought to broaden the scope of the summit by describing it as an "economic reform roundtable". He has also reiterated that the goods and services tax will be on the agenda; Chalmers adds that changes to the GST will only be considered if they are revenue-neutral and in the national interest.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Bosses demand tax reform as a priority

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Original article by Matthew Cranston, Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 12-Jun-25

The Centre for Independent Studies’ chairman Nicholas Moore has welcomed the federal the government’s decision to make productivity a focus of its policy agenda for its second term in office. Business leaders and economists agree that tax reform should be a key priority for the government’s productivity roundtable in August. However, the former Macquarie Group CEO, who is an adviser to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, says tax reform is difficult and it has been an issue for 25 years; Moore adds that issues such as housing and the red-tape burden are likely to take precedence at the roundtable.

CORPORATES
THE CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT STUDIES LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG

Unease stirs inside Labor on super tax

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 14-May-25

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has confirmed that the federal government intends to proceed with legislation to double the tax rate on superannuation balances exceeding $3m and introduce a tax on unrealised capital gains. Some Labor MPs have expressed concern about the proposed superannuation tax changes, noting that the reforms had generated a lot of negative feedback at polling booths on election day. Independent MP Allegra Spender says that although Labor now has a mandate for superannuation tax reform. she contends that it is "bad policy" and should be reconsidered.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Labor to push ahead on super tax

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Original article by Phillip Coorey, Sumeyya Ilanbey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 8-May-25

The federal government has indicated that reducing the higher education debt of students and graduates by $16bn with be its first legislative priority for its second term in office. Labor has also reaffirmed its commitment to superannuation reform, including the controversial tax on unrealised capital gains. The reforms had been intended to take effect on 1 July but were rejected by the Senate earlier in 2025 due to opposition from a number of crossbenchers; however, they will be sidelined in the new Senate given that Labor and the Greens will have a majority in the upper house.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS