Property Council welcomes Federal Government decision on negative gearing

Property Council welcomes decision on negative gearingThe announcement by the government that it will not changes the existing taxation arrangements for investment properties is good news for Australia’s 2 million owners of investment property.”This is a good decision for the 2 million Australians who own an investment property and the 1.1 million Australians who are employed in the property industry”, said Ken Morrison, Chief Executive of the Property Council of Australia.”This decision is economically responsible and recognises the important role property is playing in Australia’s economic transition.”The Government is doing the right thing by the 1.2 million Australians who negative gear. This includes over 770,000 Australians who have taxable incomes of less than $80,000 a year.”Australians understand that owning a property is a way they can secure their financial future. Owning a property means financial security and independence – this is what we should be encouraging.”Australians already pay $72 billion a year in property taxes and we are seeing new pressures to increase taxes on property even further.”The Federal Opposition’s plan is for $32 billion in new property taxes over next ten years.”You can’t increase property taxes by $32 billion and not expect a negative impact. The Opposition’s plan will create different asset classes with different tax rates. It will distort the market and hurt housing supply.”More taxes on property mean higher rents and less housing supply reaching the market.