Negative gearing rules to change
Labor has announced, if elected, when it plans to change negative rules and the capital gains tax discount, being effective for assets acquired after 1 January 2020.
Make sure you find the time to watch this free online workshop, as these are big changes and they could be very important for you.
Charge of the white shoe brigade
This is a flawed policy, overall, intended to encourage young investors (the ones with the borrowing capacity) into buying off-the-plan apartments in the assured knowledge that they'll lose money on the cashflow, and then lokely lose more money when they come to sell.
From 1 January 2020 we might thus expect to see the re-emergence of the white shoe brigade: the slick salesmen with the glossy brochures, and the bogus promises of endless capital growth on low-grade apartment stock.
And since the issue was never adequately tackled, some 'white knight' professionals and other middlemen will recommend that their clients buy new apartments for the tax incentives, while quietly trousering commissions from developers.
Thus one opportunity for young Mum and Dad investors to invest for their own retirement is set to be wound back, while power appears likely to be handed to big institutions and union-dominated industry funds.
The daft thing is that I'm precisely the sort of centrist voter that should see my vote swing from the shambolic Coalition - with its leadership team apparently stuck on high rotation - to the ALP.
But while the Coalition has used its scalpel to tackle the excesses through a combination of tax changes and macroprudential measures, there's no way I can vote for Labor's proposals.
Treasurer Frydenberg will deliver his 2019 Budget speech on Tuesday night, and with receipts tracking miles ahead of MYEFO forecasts thanks to commodity prices strength, stand by for tax cuts and big spending plans.
