Treasurer Jim Chalmers has ruled out changes to negative gearing and capital gains.
Property investors are under the spotlight as the tax reform debate shifts to wealthier Australians.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton are both under mounting pressure to revisit tax breaks on investment properties.
The Greens are proposing limiting negative gearing rules to a single investment property.
But Mr. Chalmers says any changes are off the table.
“That’s not something that we’re proposing, not something that we are considering, not something that we are working up,” he told Sky News on Sunday.
Negative gearing allows investors to claim deductions on losses, while the capital gains tax discount halves the amount of excise paid by people who sell assets that have been owned for 12 months or more.
Asked if he had ever sought advice on changing the tax breaks, Mr. Chalmers said he had discussed all aspects of the tax system with the treasury department.
He agreed a person earning $160,000 a year was in “middle Australia.”
“I think of middle Australia as the people who get up and work hard to provide for their loved ones and get ahead,” Mr. Chalmers said.
Former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet has called for negative gearing reforms to be considered as part of a wider debate about how tax changes could address housing affordability.
