“Unjustifiably bad” expat CGT policy still on Coalition agenda

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The federal government announced in the 2017 Budget that it would remove a capital gains tax (CGT) exemption for around 100,000 expatriate Australians who sell their main residence while overseas. While the measure was projected to raise $581 million over the forward estimates, it has been condemned by tax and legal experts as being “unjustifiably bad policy”, and will discourage Australians who are thinking of going overseas to work.

In March, the Morrison Government reportedly abandoned the policy, according to The AFR:

The Morrison government’s looming crackdown on capital gains tax arrangements for Australian expats appears all but dead ahead of the April 2 federal budget, with Assistant Treasurer Stuart Robert indicating the plan won’t be put to Parliament…

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.