UNSW’s City Futures Research Centre yesterday claimed “perverse” tax incentives like negative gearing and the capital gains tax (CGT) discount were behind Australia’s “ghost city” phenomenon, whereby tens-of-thousands of homes are being kept vacant in cities like Sydney and Melbourne:
“Leaving housing empty is both profitable and subsidised by government,” researchers Bill Randolph and Laurence Troy said. “This is taxation lunacy and a national scandal”…