The Turnbull government is adamant it won't tinker with capital gains tax concessions as a way of improving housing affordability and improving its own budget bottom line.
During a fiery parliamentary question time on Thursday, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison attempted to turn the tables on Labor after the opposition sought clarity on a report the government was working on options to boost revenue.
The options included following Labor policy by halving the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount on property sales, reducing it by another amount or phasing in the discount.
The Grattan Institute has estimated halving capital gains discounts will raise $3.7 billion a year.
Mr Turnbull said Labor was the only party seeking to increase capital gains tax and outlaw negative gearing, reminding opposition MPs they took the policy to the 2016 election and lost.
"We opposed those measures then and we oppose them today," the prime minister.
"The government has been paying very close attention to the damage that would be caused by the capital gains tax proposals of the Labor Party."
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann was even more blunt, saying the story in the Australian Financial Review was just "wrong"
"Don't believe everything you read in the newspaper," he told reporters.
As the government faces the double-whammy of falling revenue and rising expenditure, Mr Morrison is sticking to the line that he has "absolutely no desire whatsoever" to raise taxes.
"We will exhaust every option we have to deal with the expenditure problem we have. Once that is done, the budget will then be framed," he said.
Asked if that meant a tax rise was on the cards, he said: "The menu of options is well known."
However, from July 1 Australians will have to pay GST on items bought from overseas that cost $1000 or less under draft laws introduced to parliament by Mr Morrison on Thursday.
"These changes are about ensuring Australian businesses, particularly small retailers, do not continue to be unfairly disadvantaged by the current GST exemption that applies to imports of low-value goods," he said.
Independent senator Nick Xenophon wants the government to increase the Medicare levy for higher-income earners to fill a $7 billion unfunded gap in the national disability insurance scheme.
But modelling commissioned by The Australian shows even a one percentage point hike to the current two per cent levy would cost families more than the proposed cuts to family supplements the Senate looks certain to knock back.
Senator Xenophon was so incensed by the modelling he wrote "fake" in red across his copy of The Australian as he arrived at Parliament House.
