By William Farrington19 Jun 2026
Australia’s mortgage broking industry is celebrating the major capital gains tax (CGT) policy reversal announced by Labor on Thursday.
Facing widespread public and political outcry of sweeping CGT overhauls announced in the May Budget, prime minister Anthony Albanese declared that the concession threshold for small businesses will be lifted fivefold – from $2 million to $10 million in annual turnover.
The concession has huge implications for the thousands of Australian mortgage brokers, many of whom are small business owners themselves.
"They backpedalled like I've never seen before," said Joseph Daoud (pictured, top of page, left), founder of It’s Simple Finance. "It's a complete backflip. There's no other words around it."
For Daoud, the practical significance of the revised threshold is hard to overstate. At $10 million in annual revenue, the exemption shields the overwhelming majority of Australian brokerages from the CGT discount changes.
"If your brokerage is doing $10 million revenue a year, you've got probably the best brokerage in Australia," he said. "Most brokerages that are operating under 20 people – pretty much every single brokerage – are captured in these rollbacks. Effectively, that's what's happened."
Daoud credited the outcome to a sustained campaign of public pressure, including his own billboard advertising stunt, small business roundtables and a press conference alongside opposition leader Angus Taylor.
Mhairi Macleod Astute Ability Finance Group welcomed today’s announcement, although she warned that business sentiment has already taken a battering.
“It is a positive and I’m hoping that it breathes more confidence into the market, but unfortunately I think the damage is already done,” said Macleod. “Small businesses are a little gun shy, which has slowed down capital investment and has many small businesses placing a pause on spending plans, which flows through many sectors.”
While Tanya Sale (pictured, top of page, right), chief executive of outsource Finance, is pleased to see the government amend its position, she worries that the blowback from the the Budget is not going to go away.
"The truth of the matter is the CGT changes should never have captured businesses at all," said Sale. "There has been strong lobbying from all sectors including ours and one must question the impact of the current shifting political dynamics at play that has contributed to the backflip!"
While the policy reversal has been welcomed as a significant win for small businesses, many in the mortgage broking industry say it also highlights the importance of continued advocacy on issues that affect business owners. For now, brokers are hoping the revised threshold will restore confidence and allow them to refocus on growth rather than tax uncertainty.
