Election 2025: Warning for 130,000 on Labor plans for unrealised capital gains tax

Peter Dutton and Angus Taylor have left their most scathing ­attacks on Labor’s superannuation tax changes to the last week of the election campaign.

Opposition Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor. Picture: NewsWire / David Crosling

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Peter Dutton and Angus Taylor have left their most scathing ­attacks on Labor’s superannuation tax changes to the last week of the election campaign, as one of the most outspoken critics of unrealised capital gains tax sent a letter to 130,000 voters on Monday warning superannuants of the consequences.

Business leaders such as CSL chairman Brian McNamee have made unprecedented interventions in this election campaign to denounce Labor’s tax plans, judging this would be a more powerful time to generate awareness that the tax could spread to people with lower wealth as well as different structures and assets.

“Labor is reckless with taxpayers’ money they always spend, they always tax, and therefore that’s why they’ve got an unrealised capital gains tax,” the Opposition Leader said on Monday. “So before you sell your shares or your house or your asset, if its gone up in value, you’re going to pay tax.”

Anthony Albanese confirmed Labor was committed to bringing in unrealised capital gains tax without indexation, which would eventually see more than 500,000 superannuants hit with up to 30 per cent tax on the growth in value of assets.

Mr Taylor, the opposition Treasury spokesman, also targeted the tax. “They’re whacking superannuation,” he said.

“Here is the Labor Party that lied before the last election and said they weren’t coming after superannuation.

“Well, we know $5.5bn they’re going after in the forwards over Australian superannuation. Farmers, small business people, working hard are going to be hit with taxes on unrealised capital gains.”

Jim Chalmers defended Labor’s tax plan saying that it was old news. “We announced that policy more than two years ago. We did a bunch of consultation,” the Treasurer said. “What we’re talking about here is a modest change that will only impact half a per cent of people with super balances over $3m.”

The independent Parliamentary Budget Office released figures showing because the tax is not indexed it will raise just $300m in government revenue in its first year, but suddenly grow to more than $2.4bn by its fourth year, and almost $7bn a year within 10 years.

All up, taxpayers will be hit with a $5.5bn bill over the forward estimates and almost $40bn over the medium term.

On Monday, Wilson Asset Management’s Geoff Wilson sent a letter to 130,000 shareholders saying he had concerns about the “significant negative impact of this tax on profits you may never ­realise”.

“We have been contacted by many of you, our 130,000 shareholders, who are concerned about the taxing of unrealised gains in superannuation,” he said.

In the final leaders debate on Sunday, Mr Dutton made a point to explain the hit that was coming if Labor found support from the Greens on the plan.

“If you’ve got shares and the shares go up in value, or if you’ve got a house and the house goes up in value, this government is going to tax you on that gain before you actually sell the shares or sell the house,” Mr Dutton said.

The experience of unrealised capital gains tax in other countries such as Norway has led to investors leaving that country.

Fredrik Haga, the co-founder and chief executive of data company Dune, left Norway for Switzerland, citing his unrealised capital gain tax bill on the shares he owns in a company. The bill was bigger than his income.

“The company is loss-making and all investors have preference shares so I can’t take out any money,” Mr Haga said.

“I still don’t get any tangible and sensible answers to my criticism of unrealised gains tax, but I do get put up on the ‘wall of shame’ at the socialist parties’ offices.”