Landlords ‘leveraging up’ by exploiting property tax rules are fuelling Australia’s housing affordability crisis, analysis finds

Exclusive: Capital gains tax discount and negative gearing rules created ‘extra artificial incentive’ for property speculation, the e61 Institute has found

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The combination of the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing rules has turbocharged debt-fuelled property speculation over recent decades, according to a new analysis of hundreds of thousands of property investments.

The federal budget in three weeks’ time is widely expected to include changes to tax breaks for investors, in an effort to rebalance the tax system away from the wealthiest Australians and to take pressure off home prices.