{"id":699254,"date":"2026-05-28T04:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T04:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/699254\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T04:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T04:10:14","slug":"labor-tax-bill-senate-inquiry-to-examine-contentious-capital-gains-and-negative-gearing-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/699254\/","title":{"rendered":"Labor tax bill: Senate inquiry to examine contentious capital gains and negative gearing changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NatassiaSave<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

AAA<\/p>\n

Labor\u2019s contentious tax changes will be pulled apart in a Senate inquiry next month, but the tight three-week deadline will sustain a political brawl over the government\u2019s rush to pass new laws amid a broadening business backlash.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s tax bill was automatically referred to a Senate committee on Thursday morning, shortly after Treasurer Jim Chalmers introduced it to the House of Representatives, under a requirement that laws commencing on July 1 be probed by a committee before then.<\/p>\n

\"TreasurerTreasurer Jim Chalmers reads the bill into the House of Representatives on Thursday morning.Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n

The Greens, who were preparing to support the laws in the Senate, said they would take the opportunity to push the government on why existing property investors will keep their tax breaks under grandfathering arrangements.<\/p>\n

It sets up a second fight for Labor \u2013 this time over whether the concessions are too generous to investors \u2013 when the party is already meeting fierce resistance from the Coalition, start-ups and the business sector<\/a> over its decision to extend capital gains tax changes to non-property assets.<\/p>\n

Greens economic justice spokesman, Nick McKim, on Thursday described the bill as a \u201cmissed opportunity to finally put people ahead of profits and make the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share\u201d.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Young<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe will use this inquiry to examine how and why Labor decided to leave in place the vast majority of tax handouts for the ultra wealthy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Labor had tried to wedge its opposition by grouping all four key elements of the budget\u2019s tax package into one bill \u2013 the $250 income tax offset and $1000 instant tax deduction for workers, as well as its curbs on negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions.<\/p>\n

The government said any tweaks could be included in a second set of laws later this year \u2013 such as potential carve-outs or concessions for start-ups or small businesses, who have been surprised by the extent of the changes and fear unintended consequences.<\/p>\n

But Chalmers\u2019 tax bill was unable to avoid an inquiry \u2013 despite Labor\u2019s desire for the laws to sail through the Senate \u2013 because of a motion that passed earlier this month, under which senators agreed time-critical bills must be referred to a committee that reported back by June 22.<\/p>\n

Greens leader Larissa Waters said significant changes to the tax system deserved scrutiny.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hearing countless young people and first homebuyers express their frustration that Labor is letting wealthy property investors keep billions in handouts – an inquiry will help examine the consequences of Labor\u2019s decision on grandfathering,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The Greens are still likely to pass the laws, but could use their leverage to negotiate on other issues given the government needs them to get the legislation through.<\/p>\n

The three-week reporting period is unlikely to satisfy the Coalition, which has been pushing for a proper inquiry to probe the impact on Australian businesses. It could push to delay the inquiry\u2019s reporting date, although it would need the Greens\u2019 backing.<\/p>\n

The Business Council of Australia is the latest stakeholder to push for a full inquiry while joining calls for the capital gains tax changes to be restricted to real estate.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Prime<\/a><\/p>\n

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor continued his scathing assessment of the bill as Chalmers introduced it on Thursday morning, while Nationals leader Matt Canavan demanded Labor call an election to take the changes to the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrankly, Labor should have taken this to the people, and their refusal to do so says they are cowards, they are liars, and they are sending Australian small businesses down the stream,\u201d Taylor said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re having discussions with anyone who will work with us to fight these toxic taxes, taxes that didn\u2019t go to the Australian people, taxes which the government itself doesn\u2019t even understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Coalition had threatened to withdraw its support for Labor\u2019s National Disability Insurance Scheme legislation<\/a>, which will allow the government to make significant cuts to the $56 billion program as its core budget saving, unless the tax laws were sent to an inquiry.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Treasurer<\/a><\/p>\n

Taylor did not say on Thursday if the Coalition would now guarantee support for the NDIS laws, although the government has been expressing confidence that the opposition will come to the table.<\/p>\n

Chalmers defended his decision to extend capital gains tax changes to all assets, not just property, as Labor MPs share their jitters about a business backlash in their electorates this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense to replace one big distortion with another big distortion,\u201d he told MPs in a closed-door meeting.<\/p>\n

The treasurer described the laws as \u201cresponsible tax relief targeted for working people\u201d while introducing them in the House of Representatives on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means more money in the pockets of our nurses and teachers, tradies and truckies, and other Australians who earn salaries and wages,\u201d he said. \u201cIt represents the most meaningful permanent increase to the effective tax-free threshold since Labor last increased it more than a decade ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

\"NatassiaNatassia Chrysanthos<\/a> is Federal Political Correspondent. She has previously reported on immigration, health, social issues and the NDIS from Parliament House in Canberra.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-699254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}