CGT on family homes won’t be touched, PM says

In an interview with Patricia Karvelas on RN Breakfast, the Prime Minister stated that it would be a “bad idea” for the government to act on capital gains tax (CGT) after Treasurer Jim Chalmers declined to categorically rule it out.

However, the Prime Minister doubled down to clarify that this is not a decision being considered.

“We are not going to impact the family home, full stop, exclamation mark,” the Prime Minister stated.

“It’s a bad idea because people who save for their home that they live in with their family is something that we have no intention of making any changes there.”

This follows the Albanese government facing backlash from the opposition this week after it announced its proposal to lift tax concessions from 15 per cent to 30 per cent for individuals with a superannuation balance of over $3 million.

“This term, this is the only change on superannuation that we’re proposing,” Mr Albanese said.

The Prime Minister stated this would be a “modest change” that would not impact 99.5 per cent of superannuants and would not take effect until the next election.

The federal government recently laid out its objectives for Australia’s $3.3 trillion superannuation, with the Treasurer stating that he would “end the super wars” by enshrining super’s objective into legislation during a keynote address in Sydney on 20 February.

Mr Chalmers stated that given there was no agreement on the objective of superannuation, there had been “devastating impacts” on Australians’ savings when the Liberal government allowed the withdrawal of super funds during the pandemic.

Noting $36 billion was lost, Mr Chalmers said: “The last decade has seen the former government raid the superannuation system for their own purposes.”

The government’s proposed super objective definition is “to preserve savings to deliver income for a dignified retirement, alongside government support, in an equitable and sustainable way.”

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton argued that allowing Australians to withdraw super funds for housing investment would be beneficial to Australians in need of housing today, particularly first home buyers or women escaping domestic violence.

“The policy required, though, that people, when they sold the house and there was an uplift in the value they contribute that money back into their super so they can benefit from the compounding of it by the time they retire,” Mr Dutton stated.

[RELATED: Government pledges super reforms to help housing investment]