Fiddling with CGT won’t fix the housing crisis for young buyers
The Albanese government has arguably the biggest opportunity for reform since John Howard’s commanding election victory in 1996. If not now, when?
Shifting tax breaks away from investors could help increase home ownership rates a little. But it would also have a small negative impact on the supply of new built homes. Bethany Rae
Treasurer Jim Chalmers received a rare political gift this week as the nation’s economic elite joined the push for capital gains tax reform under the banner of “intergenerational equity”.
Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry, Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn, Labor doyen Bill Kelty and the Business Council of Australia were among those lending support to Labor, which is tiptoeing towards scaling back the 50 per cent discount on capital gains in the May budget and flirting with limits on negative gearing.
John KehoeEconomics editorJohn Kehoe is economics editor at Parliament House, Canberra. He writes on economics, politics and business. John was Washington correspondent covering Donald Trump’s first election. He joined the Financial Review in 2008 from Treasury. Connect with John on Twitter. Email John at jkehoe@afr.com
Patrick DurkinBOSS deputy editorPatrick Durkin is Melbourne bureau chief and BOSS deputy editor. He writes on news, business and leadership. Connect with Patrick on Twitter. Email Patrick at pdurkin@afr.com
