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Labor Weighs Capital Gains Tax Discount Cut Before May Budget

Fresh budget office figures put the decade-long revenue cost near $247 billion, sharpening focus on who gains from the concession.

Overview

  • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers declined to rule out scaling back the 50% discount, calling any move a cabinet matter.
  • Parliamentary Budget Office analysis estimates the concession will forgo about $247 billion through 2035–36, with roughly $21.8 billion lost this year.
  • Options under consideration include reducing the discount to 33% or 25%, limiting changes to property, and grandfathering, with Deloitte estimating a 33% setting could raise about $4 billion a year by 2035–36.
  • Official data show the benefits are heavily concentrated, with the top 10% of income earners receiving around 82% of the savings.
  • The government has ruled out altering negative gearing or the family home exemption, the Coalition signals opposition, and a Greens-led Senate inquiry is due in March as economists expect only modest price effects on housing.