By Scott Murdoch
SYDNEY, May 20 (Reuters) – Australia’s planned tax overhaul is set to reshape the market’s investment landscape, with high-dividend blue chips poised to benefit at the expense of growth-oriented stocks, fund managers say.
Under reforms unveiled in last week’s Budget, the centre-left Labor government will scrap the 50% discount on capital gains for assets held over a year and instead tax inflation-adjusted gains. A 30% minimum tax on net capital gains will be introduced from July 2027.
The upshot is a structural shift in how Australians invest. Planned capital gains tax increases, part of a broader effort to curb property speculation, would extend to equities and bonds from mid-next year, likely pushing investors toward income over capital growth and redrawing the flow of funds.
“Investors are likely to herd into low-risk, boring investments that generate income rather than capital appreciation,” said Dion Hershan, executive chairman at Yarra Capital Management, which has A$20 billion under management.
“The capital will shift from investments that will help to create jobs and grow GDP to ones that harvest what already exists.”
The changes could dent the appeal of mostly smaller, non-dividend payers, with investors taxed on share price gains when they exit, analysts said.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has framed the tax overhaul as a fairness measure, designed to wind back tax breaks for property investors in order to help younger first-home buyers enter the real estate market.
But Australia’s generous dividend system remains intact, with companies passing through tax credits on already-taxed profits to shareholders.
“Corporate payout policies could swing even further in the direction of dividends, reducing reinvestment rates, and potentially lowering future growth for the economy,” said Goldman Sachs’ analysts in a note.
UBS strategists said investment managers and exchanges including ASX, AMP and Challenger, which typically pay dividends, could be favourably affected while developers such as Stockland or Mirvac may face headwinds.
Market moves since the Budget hint at that rotation. The ASX Small Caps Index has dropped 2.6%, underperforming the broader S&P/ASX 200 and its financials sub-index, both down 1.9%.
PROPERTY COOLING CHILLS BANKS
The tax changes extend beyond equities. Australia will limit negative gearing, which lets investors offset property losses against taxable income, to newly built homes to steer capital into new supply.
The change, analysts said, will curb landlords’ borrowing demand, which has driven Australia’s top four banks’ shares down 1.3% to 6% since the Budget, and could also pressure property-linked retailers like Harvey Norman.
The reforms must pass Australia’s Senate, where the government needs crossbench support, and with capital gains tax changes not kicking in until 2027, investors have plenty of time to adapt.
With bond returns less reliant on capital gains, fund managers say money may flow into debt markets and tax-efficient pension vehicles.
“Strategies that deliver returns through carry, income, and relative value trading, such as fixed income and in particular active fixed income, could stand to benefit and therefore make up a greater share of investment portfolios,” said Kris Bernie, a portfolio manager at Kapstream Capital, a fixed income investment firm.
Demographics may reinforce the trend, as ageing investors increasingly seek dependable cash flow, such as bond coupons, over volatile growth plays.
Not everyone is convinced the shift will be benign.
Datt Capital’s chief investment officer Emanuel Datt said it will sap the economy’s dynamism and that a minimum 30% tax rate on discretionary trust income from July 1, 2028 could also hurt investors.
“We anticipate a hollowing of the local market, as the Australian taxation environment is exceptionally onerous compared to larger global peers.”
(Reporting by Scott MurdochEditing by Shri Navaratnam)
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