Australia’s next Federal election and what it means for tax concessions

Due to the Federal Government’s $37 billion budget deficit, paired with declining commodity prices, there has been a lot of talk about changes to tax concessions – particularly in areas of negative gearing, superannuation and the Capital Gains Tax. Read on for a brief summary of the potential changes to tax concessions, depending on the results of Australia’s next Federal election.

Negative Gearing

The Government is looking at putting a cap on the amount of negative gearing deductions that can be claimed per year, or the number of properties each taxpayer can negatively gear.

The Opposition however is looking at making a significant change to the law, meaning that taxpayers would only be able to negatively gear new properties.

Superannuation

It looks as though superannuation changes are likely, with the Government considering a reduction in the concessional contributions cap, and in the non-concessional, after-tax superannuation cap.

In contrast, the Opposition proposes taxing the superannuation pensions of high-earners, and reducing the high-income threshold.

Capital Gains Tax Discount

The Government is looking at reducing the Capital Gains Tax discount that applies to superannuation funds, while the Opposition proposes a reduction to the discount that taxpayers get after they sell a Capital Gains Tax asset.