Capital gains tax discount ‘overwhelmingly’ benefits investors in Australia’s richest electorates, analysis shows

For the Sydney electorate of Wentworth, which takes in Bondi Beach, the average annual capital gains tax break is $13,450 per person, and in total accounts for 7.5% of the $20bn in total benefits, according to Acoss. Photograph: Andrew Merry/Getty Images

Investors who live in the wealthy electorate of Wentworth in Sydney’s eastern suburbs claimed about $1.8bn from the 50% capital gains tax discount, according to new research. It reveals how a handful of rich enclaves in Australia’s two biggest cities account for a fifth of the annual benefit from the tax break.

The Australian Council of Social Services is lobbying for a halving of the CGT discount and has used analysis of Australian Taxation Office data from 2022-23 to highlight how the benefits “flow overwhelmingly to a small number of high-income, inner-city electorates in the eastern states”.