Tax burden hindering Australia being financial hub
Government rules are holding Australia back to being an international financial services hub as it imposes one of the largest tax burdens on managed funds, according to the Financial Services Council (FSC).
FSC chief executive, Sally Loane, said the country needed to help significant investors and skilled employees move to Australia, remove excessive taxes that penalised investors in financial services, and prioritise the development of corporate collective investment vehicles that were familiar to investors in Asia.
“These reforms would build on Australia’s existing strengths including our high-quality education and training sector, the rule of law, our political stability, and our well-established funds management industry servicing Australia’s superannuation sector,” she said.
Loane pointed to Morningstar research that found Australia’s tax and regulatory regime for managed funds was inferior to 20 other markets including the UK, much of Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, and Korea.
It noted that many other countries exempted investors from capital gains despite the Australian Government planning to increase the capital gains tax (CGT) on managed funds.
“The FSC has done a great deal of work over the past decade supporting the case for Australia to become a global financial services hub, building on the important work of Mark Johnson. We would welcome all efforts by the Australian Government to remove the barriers that are holding back Australia from growing as an international financial centre,” Loane said.
Recommended for you
With an advice M&A deal taking around six months to enact, two experts have shared their tips on how buyers and sellers can avoid “deal fatigue” and prevent potential deals from collapsing.
Several financial advisers have been shortlisted in the ninth annual Women in Finance Awards 2025, to be held on 14 November.
Digital advice tools are on the rise, but licensees will need to ensure they still meet adviser obligations or potentially risk a class action if clients lose money from a rogue algorithm.
Shaw and Partners has merged with Sydney wealth manager Kennedy Partners Wealth, while Ord Minnett has hired a private wealth adviser from Morgan Stanley.
