The prime minister has swatted away questions about curbing property tax breaks after reports of secret modelling.
The federal government has sought advice from Treasury on scaling back negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions, according to the Nine newspapers.
If Labor follows through on the modelling, housing tax breaks could form a major battleground at the upcoming federal election – reminiscent of the 2019 campaign.
Although Prime Minister Anthony Albanese brushed off the claims, he didn’t rule them out.
“I’m sure the public service are looking at policy ideas, that’s because we value them,” he told reporters in Tasmania on Wednesday.
“But we have our housing policy, it’s out there for all to see.
“Our government is fixing housing supply by getting our legislation through the Senate.”
The Commonwealth is trying to pass two key pieces of housing legislation: Help to Buy, which would reduce deposit requirements for first-home buyers via a government loan guarantee, and Build to Rent, which tax concessions to the sector with the aim of delivering more homes built for renting.
However, the bills have been blocked by the coalition and the Greens, who want a cap on rent increases and for developers’ tax handouts to be phased out.
Negative gearing allows investors to claim deductions on losses, and the capital gains tax discount, halves the amount of tax paid by Australians who sell assets that have been owned for 12 months or more.
Scaling back these tax breaks could dis-incentivise rich investors from holding onto several properties, the Greens say.
Mr Albanese argued on Thursday tax measures were separate from his government’s housing reforms.
In 2019, then-Labor leader Bill Shorten went to the federal election promising to halve the capital gains tax deduction and limit negative gearing on new properties but the party shelved these proposals after losing the national contest.
The next federal election must be held by May.
