Category Archives: Tax

Australian housing was already cooling before the budget – but how cold it gets depends on two key factors

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Most economists believe the chronic undersupply of homes will eventually push prices higher once interest rates ease and the tax changes are priced in

The government’s property tax changes have become one of the defining political issues of Labor’s second term, drawing fierce criticism from opponents who argue they represent an “assault on aspiration” that will destroy home values.

In the three weeks after the negative gearing and capital gains tax changes were revealed in the 12 May budget, housing data has begun to show how they may affect Australia’s property market. Here’s what the data shows, and what could happen next.

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Labor’s NDIS overhaul faces delay as Coalition and Greens consider teaming up to slow bill’s passage

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Government hopes to rush NDIS and tax changes through parliament but opposition and crossbench push for more scrutiny

The Greens want Labor to halt its plans to rush NDIS cuts through the Senate later this month, urging a longer inquiry process as the government seeks the minor party’s support for its contentious tax and housing changes.

It opens the possibility of the Greens and Coalition teaming up in parliament to support extending separate Senate inquiries into both the changes to the national disability insurance scheme and tax proposals, thereby delaying Labor’s hopes of passing those bills before the end of June.

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Australia to buy only secondhand nuclear subs from US in major Aukus switch – as it happened

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Extra negative gearing limits could hurt market and family budgets, Labor says

Clare O’Neil has rejected calls from the Greens and others to put further limits on negative gearing access, saying the government should not interrupt “immediate arrangements”.

There’s people in the debate who want to see the government go further. I really understand that but I just think we need to step back.

Negative gearing is a very immediate impact on a household and family budget and it’s not something that governments, when they’re making tax changes, should do, to interrupt people’s immediate arrangements.

We need to land this. We’ll do that in the appropriate time given the need … This is not a political timeline. It is a policy timeline … It’s important this gets resolved speedily and that’s what the government is working towards.

I think there’s a range of things that are on the table in those conversations and I won’t speak about them in detail …

The government wants to get the right outcome here and we are not going to be driven by the politics of the moment. It’s really important we reach the right landing point for this and I think I have spoken in previous interviews this week about some of the issues we see.

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GLA considering investigation into Zack Polanski over houseboat council tax

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Official assessing formal complaint into Green party leader’s potential ‘breach of conduct’ as assembly member

London assembly officials are weighing up whether to launch an investigation into Zack Polanski after he admitted he may have failed to pay the correct council tax while living on a houseboat in the capital.

The Green party leader has faced questions over whether the houseboat, moored in east London, was his primary residence. A spokesperson for his party had described the situation as an “unintentional mistake” and said Polanski had “immediately taken steps” to pay any tax owed.

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Anthony Albanese visibly emotional after defending Labor’s capital gains tax and negative gearing changes

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Prime minister launches impassioned argument in favour of much-maligned reforms announced in last week’s federal budget

A visibly emotional Anthony Albanese has launched an impassioned defence of Labor’s proposed changes to negative gearing, the capital gains tax discount and family trusts, saying he will “not allow Australia to become a country where aspiration is only for some”.

The prime minister has faced sustained criticism to the reforms, which include limiting negative gearing to new-builds while grandfathering existing properties, changing how CGT is calculated and imposing a new 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts.

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MPs urged to ignore fearmongering and pass Labor’s ‘long overdue’ negative gearing and CGT changes

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Exclusive: Any attempt to use the budget measures as an excuse to raise rent is opportunistic profiteering, housing advocates say

Australia’s peak community and housing groups have urged federal parliament to quickly pass Labor’s changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, saying the reforms would improve fairness for renters and young homebuyers.

The government may introduce its negative gearing and CGT changes into parliament as soon as the coming sitting fortnight, with hopes of passing the legislation soon after with the support of the Greens.

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Pocock urges CGT changes as Albanese laughs off AI meme campaign

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Independent senator warns budget reform could drive tech investment offshore, as PM thanks startups for ‘very flattering’ images

Anthony Albanese has laughed off an AI-generated meme campaign against capital gains tax changes from startup founders, thanking them for “very flattering” doctored photos of him working in their businesses.

But independent politicians representing some of Australia’s startup hotspots have raised alarm over the proposed increase to capital gains tax, warning the tax changes could see innovative companies and tech firms move overseas to chase higher rewards.

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Tech founders use AI-generated images to poke fun at Anthony Albanese in protest against tax changes

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‘He’s having a great time with his new 47% equity,’ one entrepreneur jokes, warning that some startups may leave Australia behind

Tech entrepreneurs have mocked the government’s capital gains tax changes by posting AI-generated photos of Anthony Albanese as their “new founder” and warning that increased taxes could push people away from working for new businesses or send startups overseas.

Startups and entrepreneurs may yet receive a carve-out in the federal government’s planned changes to the CGT discount, with the prime minister saying he wanted to support innovation and the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, revealing that consultation was continuing with the sector.

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Has Labor’s tax reform killed ‘rent-vesting’ for young Australians seeking a foothold in the housing market?

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Changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing will make the strategy of renting in a preferred area while buying a cheaper property elsewhere less attractive, experts say

Rent-vesting – a popular strategy used by young Australians to save for their first home – could be killed off by Labor’s tax changes on investment properties, experts warn.

Renters have used the strategy to keep living in their preferred area while buying a cheaper property elsewhere, hoping it will rise in price so they can sell and put the profits towards their first home.

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Federal budget 2026 winners and losers: rich families, overseas travellers and illegal tobacco – summary

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Taxpayers and first home buyers are the winners in Labor’s 2026 budget, while rich families could be among the losers. Find out who is better off and who is worse off in Chalmers’ budget

Being a winner or a loser from the federal budget can be the difference between hundreds of dollars – or tightening your belt even further.

Tuesday’s federal budget comes at a strange time. Donald Trump is waging a war on Iran that is impacting fuel supplies globally, including Australia. Inflation is still causing havoc on household budgets. Government programs are costing more than ever.

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News live: Bell says royal commission will look at ‘ugly displays of hostility’ towards Jewish Australians as hearings begin

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Meanwhile treasurer says next week’s budget will save more than it spends. Follow today’s news live

Jim Chalmers says next Tuesday’s budget will not extend the 26 cent fuel tax cut beyond June.

But with Australia “hostage” to the wild swings in global oil prices amid the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran, the treasurer said there was “a range of contingencies” prepared to help support households and the economy from any escalating damage as a result of the Middle East conflict.

The budget will be calibrated for the conditions, but it will also still be consistent with our ambitions.

The election began a year of delivery, and the budget will begin a year of more ambitious reform, reform which is made more not less, urgent by global inflation and global economic uncertainty.

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New UK farm inheritance tax rule will cause ‘significant challenges’, say accountants

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Levy on inherited farms and family businesses worth £2.5m or more comes into force 6 April

A new inheritance tax regime for UK farms and family businesses comes into force on Monday and will present “significant challenges” for those affected, according to accountants.

In October 2024 the government announced plans to levy inheritance tax on farms – prompting an outcry in many quarters.

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UK recruiter emerges from insolvency for third time, avoiding millions owed in tax

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Hampshire business seems to have benefited from ‘phoenixism’, which costs the taxpayer about £800m a year

A UK recruitment business has been acquired out of administration for a third time in four years as part of a succession of deals that left some of the former management team in place and millions of pounds owed to the public purse.

The chain of insolvencies appears to contain more examples of phoenixism – a process when companies are liquidated and directors are able to rise from the ashes with a new entity, free of debts.

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With Australian private health insurance premiums set to jump by 4.41%, will policies deliver more or just cost more?

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The biggest premium hike in 10 years prompts questions, as government incentives continue to drive people to take out cover merely to avoid tax penalties

The government has approved a 4.41% private health insurance premium rise from April – the largest hike in almost 10 years.

With consumers already grappling with cost-of-living pressures, including an interest rate rise earlier in February, more Australians are likely to be wondering whether keeping their private health insurance is worth it.

Melissa Davey is Guardian Australia’s medical editor

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People deriving income solely from state pension won’t be taxed, says chancellor

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Clarification creates prospect of two-tier system for retirees solely on new state pension and those on private schemes

People who rely only on their state pension for their income will not have to pay tax on it, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has said, creating the prospect of a two-tier system for those in retirement.

The new state pension is poised to rise to £241.30 a week next April, putting the annual income for someone receiving the standard payment at £12,547 – just below the personal tax allowance of £12,570 a year.

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How Rachel Reeves’s budget was leaked 40 minutes early

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By the time the chancellor reached the dispatch box, the OBR had accidentally published its verdict in full online

Shortly before midday on Wednesday, a series of headlines about Rachel Reeves’s budget began appearing on the Reuters newswire, sending instant ripples though financial markets.

The details were jaw-dropping: they appeared to spell out the key policies of the chancellor’s budget more than 40 minutes before she was due to deliver them to a crowded Commons chamber.

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How Rachel Reeves’s budget was leaked 40 minutes early

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By the time the chancellor reached the dispatch box, the OBR had accidentally published its verdict in full online

Shortly before midday on Wednesday, a series of headlines about Rachel Reeves’s budget began appearing on the Reuters newswire, sending instant ripples though financial markets.

The details were jaw-dropping: they appeared to spell out the key policies of the chancellor’s budget more than 40 minutes before she was due to deliver them to a crowded Commons chamber.

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Treasury won’t cut threshold for higher rate income tax, say sources – UK politics live

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Fallout continues over budget income tax U-turn, with Treasury saying expected fiscal gap has dropped to £20bn

This is from Helen Miller, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank, on the market reaction to the chancellor’s reported budget U-turn.

Investors will have 2 broad concerns about news that Chancellor won’t increase income tax rates

1. Does it signal less willingness to do politically difficult things

Britain’s long-term borrowing costs were sent soaring as reports suggested the latest U-turn would leave Rachel Reeves scrambling to fill a gaping black hole in the nation’s finances just two weeks before the 26 November budget.

Yields on 30-year UK government bonds, also known as gilts, jumped as much as 14 basis points in early trading, and the yield on 10-year gilts also shot up 12 basis points – rising the most since July.

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Superannuation tax changes: new rules have been proposed for your super – here’s what you need to know

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Major changes announced by Jim Chalmers include indexing superannuation balances to inflation and addition of a new threshold taxing balances between $3m and $10m

The Albanese government has dramatically rewritten its major tax policy, caving in to criticism on its controversial superannuation tax plan by raising thresholds and slashing the amount of money it will rake in.

After a long period of sustained attack from politicians and lobby groups, the government has conceded defeat on all major criticisms, with the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, saying the policy rewrites would “better target superannuation concessions”.

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Widow of man conned out of pension savings to lose half the compensation to tax

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Robert Dewar’s widow, Susan, is a leading campaigner over multimillion-pound Norton Motorcycles fraud

The family of a deceased man, who was conned out of his retirement savings after investing in the Norton Motorcycles pension scam, is to lose almost half the subsequent compensation award because of a little-known tax rule.

A long-running battle to win an award from the Fraud Compensation Fund (FCF) meant that Robert Dewar’s pension was not reimbursed until 2024, five years after his death at the age of 64.

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