u/therealfat0ne

Everyone is missing what actually happened

All the headlines are about negative gearing and CGT reform.

Except if you already own an expensive home, tomorrow was basically Christmas.

Here's what you do. You borrow against your home equity — investment loan, interest fully deductible. You take that money and buy a new build. New builds are completely carved out of the negative gearing changes. No limits on how many. Government subsidises 47 cents of every dollar you lose on paper.

Then when you sell, you literally get to pick which CGT method gives you the lower tax bill — the 50% discount or inflation indexation. You choose at sale time. Whichever is better for you.

And your own home? Still your primary residence. Still 100% CGT free when you sell. Nothing changes.

So you've got a tax free $4M asset growing in the background, the government co-funding your investment property costs, and full flexibility on your CGT when you exit.

Now here's where it gets actually insane.

At the same time they're giving property owners all of this, they stripped the 50% CGT discount off shares entirely. No exceptions. No optionality. Just indexation from July next year.

So the person who never bought property, did everything right, built up a share portfolio over 10 years investing in actual companies — they get hit. Their CGT just went up significantly.

The person who already owns a $4M house gets richer. The person who built a share portfolio because they couldn't afford a house gets taxed more.

This budget didn't help renters and first home buyers. It just made sure people who already own property stay ahead of everyone else permanently.

But yeah, intergenerational fairness.

Taxpayers are forking out $2.5b for Rio Tinto's electricity bill. Should they?

Labor soft on gambling, but hard on australian families

Tomorrow's budget is the biggest gift to existing property owners in years and nobody is talking about it