Labor will fast-track widows’ tax fix after NDIS negotiations with Coalition: report

Labor is expected to fast-track a carve-out for those affected by the so-called widow tax to secure Coalition support for the government’s contentious NDIS changes.

These changes are set to pass the House of Representatives on Tuesday after a deal was finalised, News24 reports.

The widow tax, a consequence of Labor’s overhaul of the tax system in May, would remove grandfathered negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions for co-owners of a property in the case of inheritance or transfer by death or divorce.

The Coalition has repeatedly demanded the government to legislate a fix for the exemptions but Opposition Leader Angus Taylor ramped up these efforts this week by issuing an ultimatum to Labor.

Mr Taylor wrote in a letter to Anthony Albanese that the Coalition would only back the government’s changes to the NDIS if Labor abolished the widow tax this week.

Labor, which needs the Coalition’s support to pass the reforms through the upper house, had signalled a willingness to accelerate the passage of the tax amendments through parliament.

Earlier, Mr Chalmers told reporters at Parliament House no issues had been raised with the draft legislation for the next tranche of tax reform laws, which includes an amendment to protect those acquiring a property after death or divorce, released two weeks ago.

“The government has already made it abundantly clear, crystal clear, that we are addressing some of those issues raised in that draft legislation that I put out some time ago, and that we have consulted on,” Mr Chalmers told reporters at Parliament House.

“Now, if the opposition’s main ask is that we pass the government’s legislation quicker, then obviously I’m up for that discussion.”

Labor is pushing to pass its NDIS legislation to avoid cost blowouts after the proposed laws drew the ire of disability advocates and was subject to an extended eight-week Senate inquiry.

The Greens, who hold the balance of power in the Senate, have vehemently opposed the proposed changes which will scrub more than 200,000 people off the scheme by the end of the decade.

Originally published as Labor will fast-track widows’ tax fix after NDIS negotiations with Coalition: report