Tax

Commission backs Labor tax policy to balance budget

Peter Martin, Jessica Irvine   A high-powered independent commission has backed Labor's approach to capital gains tax and negative gearing, undercutting prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and treasurer Scott Morrison who say it will "smash" housing prices.

Meet the millionaires who pay no income tax

Figures show 56 of Australia's highest earners paid next to no income tax.

Peter Martin   Paying tax has become optional for 56 of Australia's highest earners. Newly-released tax statistics show each of the 56 paid next to no income tax in 2013–14, not even the Medicare Levy, even though each more than $1 million.

We are becoming a nation of landlords and serfs

Peter Martin dinkus

Peter Martin   Forget the Australian dream, we just want to ‘get ahead’ now - with negative gearing.

Tax wine as beer 'and raise $2.9b'

Different alcohols are currently taxed at different rates.

Peter Martin   Taxing wine and cider the same as beer and lifting the rate by 5 to 6¢ for a glass of beer would raise $2.9 billion a year, much of which could fund tax relief, the Treasury has been told.

Modeller lauded by Coalition opposed negative gearing

Treasurer Scott Morrison addresses the media during a press conference at Parliament House.

Peter Martin   Negative gearing encourages excessive use of debt, lifts overseas borrowings and raises real interest rates, according to the economist whose work on the subject has been lauded by the treasurer Scott Morrison.

Economy picks up as income dives, budget weakens

Treasurer Scott Morrison says Australia appeared to be managing a successful transition from the investment phase of the ...

Peter Martin   Australians shrugged off sliding national income and meagre pay rises to dip into their savings at the end of last year, delivering a surprise surge in spending that pushed up economic growth to 3 per cent, well in excess of the budget forecast.

ASSET CHECK

Labor plan encourages higher gearing

Changes to taxation may affect the way you look at gearing your portfolio.

Daryl Dixon   If the tax-exempt proportion of capital gains is cut to 25 per cent, it will change the original objective of taxing only real capital gains.

Turnbull walks away from tax reform

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says Labor's policy of allowing negative gearing only on new properties might knock 10 ...

Peter Martin   The Turnbull government has all but abandoned tax reform, ruling out most of the options presented to it, and zeroing in on just two: the excessive use of negative gearing and the excessive use of concessional super contributions.

Terrified on tax: why Turnbull will squib it

Illustration: John Spooner

Peter Martin   So much for big reforms. Don’t expect Malcolm Turnbull to present a bold tax plan. He’s too scared of putting voters offside.

Bracket creep is code for cutting high-end taxes

Peter Martin dinkus

Peter Martin   Many of us would welcome bracket creep if it meant actually getting a pay rise.

NOEL GALLAGHER

Bracket creep is 'no big deal'

Treasurer Scott Morrison is keen to cut income tax.

Noel Whittaker   Tax reform is in the spotlight.

There's more than one way to kill negative gearing

Peter Martin dinkus

Peter Martin   The big problem is the capital gains tax concession.

ASSET CHECK

Capital gain changes are more taxing than negative gearing

Good after-tax returns are far more important than lower tax bills.

Daryl Dixon   The ongoing tax reform debate has created new difficulties for making medium and long term investment decisions.

Negative gearing losses biggest in ACT and WA

Treasurer Scott Morrison addressed the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday 17 February 2016. Photo: Andrew Meares

Peter Martin   The Australian Capital Territory is the nation's biggest loser according to a new analysis of tax statistics, with Western Australia a close second.

Morrison's tax change: From the poor to the rich

Treasurer Scott Morrison modelled tax changes that would see the rich benefit at the expense of the poor.

Peter Martin   The most shocking thing in the treasury analysis delivered to Scott Morrison on January 25 isn't the finding that a cut in income tax funded by a lift in the goods and services tax would boost the economy not at all.

Beware, the states are about to hike up taxes

Peter Martin dinkus

Peter Martin   Now that a GST rise is off the table, expect state governments to do the tax reform that the Federal Government won’t.

$440,000 to model tax, but the results shouldn't be taken literally

Cabinet secretary Arthur Sinodinos is under pressure over the NSW Liberal party's political donations scandal.

Peter Martin   The government is paying private consultants $440,000 to model the effects of tax changes in an exercise the head of the Treasury says shouldn't be taken too literally.

Morrison: No GST hike this time

Treasurer Scott Morrison seized on the report on Thursday.

Treasurer Scott Morrison has conceded that an increase in the GST is extremely unlikely, saying it means the May budget will have room for only small income tax cuts.

What tax debate?

Peter Martin dinkus

Peter Martin   Of all the questionable claims in the tax debate, the biggest it's that it's been a debate.

Why PM killed the white paper and probably a higher GST

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull after a radio interview on Friday.

The tax white paper is dead. So too (most probably) is an increase in the GST.

CAR FINANCE

Car packaging still worthwhile

Dat Pham has a novated lease on his new Toyota Prado.

Leasing a car through work is still worthwhile. The tax advantage is not as great as it used to be, but there are still savings for most people.

GST hike is a solution in search of a problem

Peter Martin dinkus

Peter Martin   We need a clear goal if the attempt to change the tax system is to succeed.

Tax on luxury family homes rejected

Even the most expensive homes would stay exempt, Labor says.

Peter Martin   A government frontbencher has all but killed a proposal to apply capital gains tax to the sale of luxury homes by ruling it out before the Coalition even considered it.

Off the table: why the GST won't be lifted to 15 per cent

Scott Morrison believes the states are perfectly capable of fixing their own financial problems.

Peter Martin   So out of favour is the idea of increasing the GST that by the time the government releases its tax options paper in the new year a 15 per cent GST might not even be on it.

YOUR QUESTIONS

Capital gains tax may apply when you split units

Property in St Kilda has made significant capital gains since the 1980s.

George Cochrane   We live in combined flats as our permanent place of residence and neither one has ever been rented. We wondered if upon sale of either flat we will have to pay any capital gains tax? A.D.

ASSET CHECK

Push your savings up a gear

Even if the tax advantages of the family home and negative gearing change in the future, these changes are unlikely to ...

Daryl Dixon   Given the ongoing uncertainty about the future tax treatment of superannuation, investing in the family home and gearing investments now offer more certain benefits.

Be afraid, they are coming for your super

The government's biggest tax decisions concern superannuation.

Peter Martin    Forget the GST – it's tackling the burgeoning problem of superannuation that will show whether the Treasurer is serious about fixing tax.

ASSET CHECK

Super proposals would make tax system less fair

Tinkering with the superannuation system would encourage over-investment in the family home.

Daryl Dixon   If superannuation is made less attractive, it would encourage the well off to over-invest in the family home and do even more negative gearing of investment properties.

ASSET CHECK

Savers under attack

Tax reform could encourage overinvestment in the family home.

Daryl Dixon   People relying on their past savings for their retirement income face being big losers in any increase in the GST tax burden.

BOURIS ON MONEY

Structuring your super for success

Superannuation is a tax and legal structure for retirement savings, not an investment.

Mark Bouris   When the superannuation annual statements start landing in our mailboxes, inevitably there's discussion about how well super is performing. And if the results are poor, people say that super is not a worthwhile investment.