Anthony Albanese’s Tax Claim Sparks Viral Debate Post-Budget

AI-generated memes poking fun at the federal government’s proposed reforms to capital gains tax have been gaining traction on social media, reflecting widespread concern among businesses about the potential impacts of these changes.

Startup founders and small business owners participating in this viral trend have likened Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to a “47 per cent silent partner” in their enterprises due to the planned tax overhaul. Experts, however, caution that this characterization is somewhat exaggerated.

The viral campaign includes edited images of Albanese performing everyday business tasks such as serving customers, laying concrete, cooking pizzas, and stocking shelves. The captions suggest the government would take almost half of any profits from future business sales.

Carlos Cordova, who has been operating a food business for nearly ten years, shared his perspective with SBS News. “We’ve invested all our savings, including those set aside for holidays and short breaks, into the business,” he said.

“Keeping up is becoming increasingly challenging,” Cordova continued. “It’s tough to stay competitive and ahead.”

Having supported Labor in the last election, Cordova mentioned he did so with the belief that changes to the capital gains tax wouldn’t materialize. Feeling betrayed, he stated, “I was misled and won’t be casting my vote for Labor again anytime soon.”

Engaging in the AI meme trend, Cordova shared a digitally altered image of himself alongside the prime minister on social media over the weekend, illustrating his dissatisfaction with the proposed tax changes.

“We would like to formally welcome our new business partner, Anthony Albanese,” it reads.

“After Janet and I spent just under 8 years building Sur Direct from the ground up, the markets, the manufacturing, the sleepless nights, the risks, the sacrifices, we thought it only made sense to partner up and basically hand over 47% of the business.”

How will the changes work?

This social media trend grew after last week’s federal budget, when changes to CGT were announced. Labor had ruled out changes in the lead-up to last year’s federal election.

The government has proposed replacing Australia’s long-standing 50 per cent capital gains tax discount with a new inflation-linked system. Under the proposed changes, some high-income earners could face tax rates of up to 47 per cent on certain capital gains.

However, experts say the memes exaggerate the impact of the changes as the reforms apply to profits from the sale of assets, not to regular business income or daily profits. They also say many small businesses would still qualify for existing tax concessions.

Independent economist Saul Eslake said the suggestion that reforms would somehow make the government or the prime minister a 47 per cent shareholder in every business is “completely fictitious”.

“What you pay capital gains tax on is the increase in the value of assets which you own when you sell them,” he explained to SBS News.

“Under the changes the government is proposing, Australians will get relief from the impact of inflation on the cost base of those assets.

“And in fact, for many assets, including shares and units, the system of capital gains taxation which the government will be bringing into effect from one July next year is actually more concessional than the 50 per cent discount that’s applied to capital gains since 1999 when it was changed by John Howard and Peter Costello,” he said.

“That system has primarily benefited investors in houses whose prices have risen on average over the period since then by about 7.5 per cent a year, which is more than double the inflation rate, which has averaged just under 3 per cent per annum over that period.”

Cordova acknowledged that the social media campaign and 47 per cent figure were overblown for effect, but maintained that businesses like his are doing it tough.

“I would ask the government to support people that are wanting to get ahead, wanting to employ people and wanting to put Australia first,” he said.

“Businesses are suffering and I think everyone else is as well.”

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