Existing property investors likely to avoid more tax under possible CGT changes in Chalmers’ May budget

Treasurer tells Commonwealth Bank podcast that he aims to ‘recognise the decisions that people have taken in the past’

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Existing property investors look set to avoid paying more tax under Labor’s mooted changes to CGT in next month’s budget, after Jim Chalmers said he wanted to “make sure that we recognise the decisions that people have taken in the past” and flagged any reforms would not generate “a huge amount of revenue”.

The treasurer is widely expected to modify the flat 50% tax discount on profits from the sale of assets held for more than one year, potentially returning to the pre-1999 model where capital gains are adjusted for inflation.