Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull declares all tax reform options are back on the table.
Negative gearing is back on the government's tax reform agenda now that Malcolm Turnbull is Prime Minister. The new leader has said that all measures ruled out by his predecessor Tony Abbott—including superannuation tax concessions, capital gains breaks for investors and negative gearing—are back on the table for discussion.
"There are many levers in the tax system, many possible combinations of measures, and it's important that we look at all of them," Turnbull said on Monday. "We've got to look at all of the levers and measures we can to improve incentives that make us more productive."
The government was scheduled to release a draft tax white paper in October with the final version in the new year. Treasurer Scott Morrison said on Sunday he would continue with the white paper process.
On Tuesday night, former Treasury secretary Ken Henry told ABC's 7:30 program that he would advise Turnbull to defer the tax reform package until after the next election as "present circumstances make it too difficult to develop a sufficient tax reform package". Henry led the last major review of Australia's tax system in 2010.