Submission to the Select Committee on the Operation of the Capital Gains Tax Discount

The Capital Gains Tax (CGT) discount is one factor that contributes to a housing system that is no longer effective in housing every Australian.

The current CGT discount settings, which extends tax concessions to investment properties, contributes to widening inequality in Australia, worsening housing affordability, and undermining long-term social and economic wellbeing. These outcomes of the CGT policy directly contribute to rising homelessness.

Significant reform is necessary. Council to Homeless Person’s contribution to the Select Committee on the Operation of the Capital Gains Tax Discount focuses on the impacts of the housing affordability crisis, in part caused by the CGT discount.     

Amid the worst housing crisis in living memory, phasing out the CGT discount to build a fairer housing system is an idea whose time has come.