Overnight With Michael Mclaren

A controversial new tax plan floated at the government’s productivity round table could see Aussie homeowners taxed on spare rooms they’re not using. Mike is joined by Property Investment Expert Garth Davis, who says the “crazy” idea won’t fix Australia’s housing crisis. “If the government wants to help then it should be taxing empty houses, not empty bedrooms,” Garth says. “This won’t work – there is a cost to selling, real estate fees, moving fees etc, then there’s the cost of stamp duty to buy another home to downsize… there’s no incentive for homeowners.” In Australia 70% of the adult population are homeowners and 30% are renters. “We need to target empty homes that are vacant for months and years, owned by wealthy foreign investors who have no intention of renting the property out,” Garth added. “Instead of a spare room tax, why not incentive people to rent rooms out?”See omnystudio.com/list