Negative Gearing on Human Capital Investment - Thoughts?

Ok, hear me out – it’s a brain flash I had the other day. The way negative gearing works on property investment is great for generating medium to short term tax losses. The property strategy is popular because expenses (interest on loans, depreciation and rental maintenance costs etc) can reduce the investor’s taxable income, right? With me so far?

In my many years of recruitment and HR Services, the one common statement I hear from employers, is that their employees are their most valuable asset.

So why not invest in Human Capital? – Boom!

Think about the cost of time to recruit, on-board, train and develop your people, especially in the first six - twelve months and then the ongoing ‘maintenance’ to keep them interested and challenged to stay with your organisation. These ‘intangible’ collective skills and knowledge that add value to your brand and eventually your balance sheet, are not to be overlooked.

Imagine, if employers were able to ‘write-off’ all of those silent, but costly employee expenses against income, how many more people could be employed? Maybe some special concessions for the unskilled or the mature aged job seekers who require retraining.

Who’s with me to start lobbying to Canberra?!