Labor's unrealised gains tax sparking 'real panic' for small businesses, Chartered Accountants ANZ's Tony Negline warns

Sky News AU

2 days ago

There is a 'real panic' over Labor's plan to double the tax rate on super funds above $3 million and target unrealised capital gains, a leading self-managed super fund expert has declared.
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Labor's plan to hit unrealised capital gains has sparked concerns amongst small business owners and farmers who hold assets in their SMSFs.
If the change is legislated, they will be forced to pay 30 per cent tax on the assets' increase above the $3m threshold despite not reaping the paper gain from it.
Chartered Accountants ANZ's super and financial services leader Tony Negline said 70 per cent of his company's members did not favour the policy, with many concerned about the taxing of unrealised gains.
'We think unrealised gains is a major issue,' Mr Negline said.
'It's a terrible issue for farmers because the value of farm properties, in some cases, is going up dramatically, but the increase in cash flow is not matching that.
'So they're then saying, 'How do I pay this tax bill?'
'Small businesses, such as farmers (or) any small business that has their commercial property in their self-managed fund, has got real concerns.
'One of our members described to me yesterday, in some cases, there's a real panic.'
Alongside concerns from farmers and small businesses about the tax, others have warned this will hurt startups.
Wilson Asset Management's founder Geoff Wilson said investment will tighten and move away from the high-risk sector.
'People will move away from taking risks. They'll restructure their investments. It could be more money into the family home or their children's homes or their primary place of residence or their grandchildren's homes," Mr Wilson told SkyNews.com.au.
'More money away from risk capital and supporting corporate Australia - small and medium-sized companies in corporate Australia. It's the lifeblood of Australia.'
After Labor's sweeping election victory, the Albanese government now only needs the support of the Greens to get the super tax legislation through the Senate.
The Greens called for the threshold to be lowered to $2m, but indexed over time.
Labor has tried to get the legislation through the Senate multiple times, at one point attempting to link it with a bill which would have scrapped debit card surcharges and reduce surcharges on credit cards.
However, it was opposed by Senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie, who joined forces with the Coalition to defeat the proposals.