By Zac de Silva in Canberra

FEDERAL BUDGET WINNERS AND LOSERS

WINNERS

• First-home buyers: a clamp-down on property investment is expected to help around 75,000 people into home ownership. Tax concessions for landlords and investors – including negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount – will be wound back

• Workers: anyone who earns a wage will get a $250 bonus on their tax return from July 2027. The payment will be made permanent and comes on top of other tax relief announced in previous budgets

• Hospital patients: Another $25 billion in federal money is being poured into public hospitals, while $5.9 billion will be spent making more medicines cheaper through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

• Small business owners: the current $20,000 instant asset write off for small businesses will be made permanent from the start of July

• Public transport users: billions of dollars have been set aside for infrastructure, with the budget including funding for Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop, upgrades for the Sydney-to-Canberra railway line, development works for high speed rail between Newcastle and Sydney and the electrification of Victoria’s Melton Line

• Motorists: Under a $12 billion fuel security package, the government will secure extra supplies of petrol, diesel and jet fuel in a bid to better insulate Australia from future oil price shocks

LOSERS

• Future property investors: changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax will begin hitting investors from mid-2027, but properties currently owned will be grandfathered

• NDIS recipients: changes to eligibility for the National Disability Insurance Scheme will claw back around $15 billion by 2030

• Older Australians: a Howard-era decision to give people over-65 a more generous health insurance rebate has been scrapped to save $3 billion

• Wealthy families with trusts: a 30 per cent minimum tax will be imposed on discretionary trusts, which are often used by wealthy families to split income between family members and minimise tax

• Unskilled migrants: while Australia’s overall migrant intake will stay the same, more places will be allocated for skilled migrants, leaving less room for those without crucial qualifications

• Future electric vehicle owners: the fringe benefits tax exemption for electric vehicles is being made less generous over time, amid record-breaking EV sales