Latest news with #WilsonAssetManagement
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Labor is 'gaslighting the Australian people' on unrealised capital gains tax proposal, Geoff Wilson warns
Labor is 'gaslighting the Australian people' by claiming its proposed super tax will impact a small sliver of the population, a leading fund manager has warned as the government and the Greens close in on a deal. The Albanese government's controversial plan to double the tax rate on funds in super accounts above $3m and hit unrealised gains could soon be legislated. Labor has claimed the tax will hit just 80,000 super accounts, however, Wilson Asset Management founder Geoff Wilson, who has launched a petition opposing the plan, said by forcing Aussies to pay taxes on paper gains it will hinder investment in Australia. 'Both Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers - and probably most of the government - are gaslighting the Australian people by saying: 'Look, this will only impact a very small percentage of people that pay the additional tax',' Mr Wilson told Sky News. 'That's correct, but what it'll do is actually impact about how $4.2 trillion in superannuation is invested. 'We anticipate that the money will come out of self-managed super funds (SMSF), which is about $1.1 trillion, and billions of that will go into the housing market and push house prices up . ' He cautioned Aussies who use their SMSF as a low tax investment vehicle will be discouraged from funding projects and businesses in the Australian market. 'People won't want to take risk on their superannuation in in the self-managed super funds,' Mr Wilson said. 'The angel investors and the startups and the small companies in Australia that find it hard to raise capital, particularly at this point in time - that tap's going to be turned off.' He pointed to the taxing of unrealised gains in Norway that drove investment out of the country despite initial expectations it would bring in millions. 'It was only for the ultra-wealthy, they thought they were going to raise $150 million,' Mr Wilson said. 'Instead of raising that, they were minus half a billion.' He also noted the capital gains tax hike in the United Kingdom which resulted in the government taking in 10 per cent less capital gains tax revenue. 'People change their behaviour,' Mr Wilson said. 'We've done economic models, we think it'll be negative to the tune of $94.5 billion on the Australian economy.' Alongside taxing unrealised gains, Labor's super tax has drawn criticism for its failure to index the $3m threshold over time. The Greens want Labor to lower the threshold to $2m and index it to the rate of inflation. New analysis from the Financial Services Council shows that under Labor's plan more than half a million Aussies currently in the workforce will be captured by the tax. Of those impacted, more than 200,000 are currently under 30, while 135,000 are between 30 and 34 and 65,000 are between 35 and 39. The number of impacted taxpayers greatly drops off for Australians 40 and over. The Greens' proposal would hit more than 200,000 Aussies currently in the workforce and is more evenly spread across the age ranges. Financial Services Council CEO Blake Briggs urged Labor to listen to feedback from consumers, industries and economists on how the tax will impact future generations. 'The superannuation industry recognises the government has the capacity to force the new tax through the Parliament with the support of the Greens, but encourages the two parties to take a more constructive and consultative approach,' Mr Briggs said. 'The Financial Services Council encourages the Government to consult on options that would not unfairly target future generations of Australian superannuation consumers and undermine confidence in our retirement system by introducing a new, contentious tax on unrealised capital gains.'
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
‘Every worker': Number of Aussies hit by unrealised gains tax in next 30 years revealed
Wilson Asset Management Founder Geoff Wilson reveals the number of Australians in the next 30 years who will be hit by the unrealised gains tax. 'Now, effectively without the indexation, we have done some numbers, and within the next 30 years, 8.1 million or more than half of the working population will be over that $3 million mark,' Mr Wilson told Sky News host Peta Credlin. 'Without indexation, eventually every worker will be paying tax on unrealised gains, so they will be paying tax on a profit that may never eventuate.'
Sky News AU
4 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
‘Things have to be changed': Economists urge Labor to reconsider unrealised tax scheme
Wilson Asset Management Chairman Geoff Wilson says Labor's tax on unrealised capital gains will have a 'negative economic impact' as its purpose is to try and get superannuation back to its primary purpose of retirement funds. 'It is very beneficial for people who've got large sums in superannuation, they get a disproportionate benefit than the average Australians,' Mr Wilson told Sky News Australia. 'The trillions of dollars that's in superannuation, that's meant to be long-term investments … that won't happen anymore. 'This isn't the way to do it.'
Sky News AU
4 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Albanese and Chalmers ‘gaslighting' Australian people over unrealised gains tax proposal
Wilson Asset Management Chairman Geoff Wilson claims both Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers are 'gaslighting' the Australian people over Labor's unrealised capital gains tax. 'We anticipate that the money will come out of self-managed super funds … and billions of that will go into the housing market and push house prices up,' Mr Wilson told Sky News Australia. 'It will impact how $4.2 trillion in superannuation is invested. 'If they can remove the tax on unrealised gains, and increase and put in some type of indexing, so the younger Australians that this will impact over time, don't get dealt the bad hand they're currently dealt.'
The Guardian
17-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Not lovin' it: Australians enticed by premium rivals as McDonald's records rare fall in sales
McDonald's has recorded a rare, global decline in sales, as price-sensitive customers curb spending at the fast food giant. In Australia, the chain is also under pressure from a host of new rivals, with consumers swapping their traditional burger and fries for a burrito or charcoal chicken pack. The change in buying habits is raising questions over whether customers can still find a convenient, well-priced meal at McDonald's after a series of menu price increases. In a cost-of-living crisis, is the famed burger chain now just too expensive? McDonald's has just reported its steepest quarterly drop in US sales since early in the pandemic, with same-store sales down 3.6%. It also reported a decline in global sales. The results came amid sluggish spending by consumers across the US and in its key overseas markets, which include Australia. McDonald's executives remarked that high living costs were not just affecting lower-income consumers but also those on middle incomes, in a worrying sign for a business reliant on the mass market. Shaun Weick, the deputy portfolio manager at Sydney-based Wilson Asset Management, says the rise of competitors, including the Mexican-themed Guzman y Gomez, are enticing customers away from McDonald's. 'McDonald's has lost that perception of representing value,' says Weick. 'I'm continually hearing that McDonald's is losing market share because they've priced themselves out of the market; they've gotten too expensive.' The fast food market is highly sensitive to price changes, given customers constantly weigh the cost and convenience of buying takeaway. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email In the past three years, McDonald's has lifted the price of a pack of six nuggets by about 22% to above $8. The price of a small Big Mac meal is now more than $12, while a larger meal deal can cost more than $15 for some of the bigger burger varieties. The question for Australian consumers is whether the narrowing price differential between a McDonald's meal and a more premium offering, such as a sub-$20 burger meal at Middle Eastern-style chicken chain El Jannah, is enough to get them to the golden arches. Research from Sydney-based Fonto shows that McDonald's consistently underperforms on customer satisfaction when compared with other brands. 'There is definitely a preference for those alternatives, particularly as the gap in cost for those meals reduces,' says the Fonto chief executive, Ben Dixon. 'McDonald's has the least satisfaction of the major brands and this is mostly around the price people pay for what they are getting.' It's not all bad news for McDonald's. Fonto's research shows customers still value convenience, something that McDonald's excels in. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The chain, which opened its first Australian store in 1971 in the Sydney suburb of Yagoona, has expanded to more than 1,050 locations across the country, second only to Subway, according to researcher GapMaps. The McDonald's global chief financial officer, Ian Borden, told analysts earlier this month that the chain was making progress in Australia in the face of declining sector-wide traffic, and that the company was looking forward to seeing momentum build. Its Australian business is relying in part on its 'loose change menu' to bring customers back during a cost-of-living crisis. It has found success in Canada by offering a C$1 coffee. McDonald's Australia and its US corporate headquarters did not respond to questions. The sluggish appetite for McDonald's is not evident in the company's US stock price, which is trading near record highs. But it's likely a different story for its franchisees, who pay significant sums to operate the restaurants with the hope of tapping into its long-term success. Fast food stores have been treading a fine line between raising menu prices to retain or increase profit margins in response to higher costs, and trying not to put off price-conscious customers. When KFC, which has a strategy of undercutting McDonald's on price, found Australian customers weren't happy with some of its own price increases, it quickly tried to regain trust by unveiling value deals for lunch and dinner. After a prolonged period of fast-rising living costs, there are early signs that households are getting on top of their finances as the pace of inflation eases. Weick says further interest rate cuts would also help consumers, especially those in the 'mortgage belt' who are among the most frequent visitors to fast food outlets. He says there is still a question over whether McDonald's will share in that recovery, or lose further ground to rivals. 'The sector is not shooting the lights out at the moment, but there's a feeling it has bottomed and there's improvement,' says Weick. 'But I don't think the recovery will be uniform.'
