Anthony Albanese has revealed there will be investment changes to self-managed super funds as he strikes a deal with the Greens to pass his flagship tax reforms.
The Prime Minister confirmed the agreement on Tuesday.
The reforms include a major overhaul of capital gains tax, with the existing 50 per cent discount scrapped and replaced by a flat 30 per cent rate, indexed to inflation.
Negative gearing rules will also be tightened, limiting tax concessions to newly built properties, while all existing arrangements before May 12 will be grandfathered.
Under the deal with the Greens, the government will close a loophole where people can buy property through self-managed super funds to avoid the CGT increase.
‘These changes don’t in any way change the tax arrangements for superannuation, don’t impact any existing SMSF borrowing arrangements and provide time to finalise arrangements that are in train,’ the Albanese government said in a statement.
‘Labor built superannuation and we’ll always look to make it stronger and fairer, and agreeing to these changes will reduce the risks to retirement savings while also securing passage of these important reforms to make the tax system fairer.’
Greens senator Nick McKim boasted about ‘forcing Labor to go a little bit further to address housing’ in Australia.
Anthony Albanese (pictured) confirmed a deal with the Greens had been struck on the budget
‘This will take some demand out of the housing market, and it will mean that there is less opportunity for people in self-managed superfunds to show up to auctions and use their tax advantages to outbid renters and prospective first home buyers,’ he said.
The Albanese government has also agreed to extend the NDIS inquiry by eight weeks as part of its deal with the Greens.
Labor has made a number of amendments to the NDIS bill, curbing ministerial powers and improving transparency.
But the Greens say even with those changes, they will still oppose the bill.
A snap parliamentary inquiry’s final report on changes to the $56million NDIS scheme was due to be tabled on Tuesday after two extensions were granted.
However, an interim version is expected to be tabled instead, with the committee now set to deliver a final report by August 14.
The proposed NDIS overhaul would boot 160,000 people from the scheme to rein in spending and leave thousands more with less funding.
Delaying the report will grant more time to build pressure on both Labor and the Liberals to withdraw support for the bill entirely, the Greens said.
Larissa Waters (pictured) and the Greens have slammed proposed changes to the NDIS
Greens leader Larissa Waters slammed the government for trying to overhaul the NDIS.
‘The government is punching down on disabled people and making almost proposing to make almost $40billion of savings off the back of the most vulnerable people in our community,’ she said.
‘That is disgusting. And it is a choice that the government didn’t need to make. The Greens are going to fight it for every piece that you want.’
Waters revealed plans to try and scrap Albanese’s NDIS bill ‘entirely’.
‘We’ve heard the Liberals say some critical words about this bill,’ she said.
‘Well, they need to follow through and oppose the bill. Or better yet, the government should withdraw this cruel attack on disabled people.
‘That actually is an attack on all of us, and it’s an attack on Australian values.’
The Albanese government praised the deal struck with the Greens.
‘Passage of this important legislation this fortnight will provide workers, businesses and investors certainty about the core tax settings that will apply from July 1, 2027,’ it said in a statement.
‘The Government will continue to develop further tranches of legislation to implement the Budget tax reform package, consistent with the process for legislating other large tax reform packages in the past.’
More to come
