Labor’s negative gearing model questioned

Numbers do not add up

The Property Investors Council of Australia and its chairman Ben Kingsley said Labor needs to “urgently authorize” the Parliamentary Budget Office to release the modeling assumptions for their taxation policies. Labor is being called on to explain the modeling of its negative gearing policy, as new figures suggest the numbers don't stack up. 

Mr Kingsley said Labor’s policy fails to include off-the-plan and house-and-land packages in its estimation that more than 90 percent of new investment loans are to people purchasing existing housing stock.

“Just today, Australia’s biggest aggregator, AFG – with over 2,900 mortgage brokers – confirmed its mortgage application data for new investment purchases vs existing property was 43 percent new and 57 percent existing,” he said.

“This seriously puts into question Labor’s logic in crafting the policy and absolutely challenges their revenue assumptions.”

Mr Kingsley added that Labor’s taxation policies could potentially alter the property market significantly, so their policies must be reliant on accurate data.

“If Labor has nothing to hide, then this is a straightforward exercise in full disclosure so all property owners can understand their reasoning for such significant reform,” said Mr Kingsley.

If the data is inaccurate, he said that action needs to be taken as soon as possible.“We need to address this immediately, as it is very much in the interest of the 10 million-plus property owners that are going to see the values of their property fall to pieces across Australia.”

The full impact of Labor’s negative gearing policy is yet to be seen, with experts divided on what it means for property investors, ranging from being “a very little impact” to “a big deal”.

If elected in the upcoming federal election in May, a Labor government would enact their negative gearing policy by 1 January 2020.

With this in mind new build Positive Income Dual living properties will not be affected unless you are looking to buy and flip, as they offer positive cash flow, great depreciation and low maintenance due to builder’s warranty.   

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