Decidr's Take On The New Capital Gains Tax

Decidr.ai (ASX:DAI) today welcomes the Treasurer’s comments that the Government will consult with the technology sector on capital gains tax provisions to prevent long-term damage to our nation’s innovation and technology community.

Decidr.ai is passionate about building Australia’s sovereign capability in artificial intelligence.

Thousands of Australian workers have joined us and companies like us, in our commitment to build sovereign technology infrastructure, and receive equity as a significant component of their remuneration.

We firmly believe the Capital Gains Tax discount regime as announced in last night’s budget will, without appropriate carve-outs, reduce our capability, and that of every independent start-up, to contribute to Australia’s sovereign infrastructure.

It is vital to ensure that Australian businesses are incentivised to create Australian-headquartered AI capability. Without it, we face a significant risk that Australian business intelligence is ‘rented’ to large offshore hyperscalers, and then sold back to us in AI products developed using our own sovereign knowledge.

We must ensure Australia is not left at the end of a large multinational AI supply chain, as has occurred in a wide range of other traditional industries over time.

David Brudenell: Executive Chairman of Decidr.ai said:

“As Australia’s only ASX listed AI company, we welcome the Government’s post budget commentary on seeking further consultation with the technology sector to potentially strike a solution between fairness for thousands of Australian tech workers building for our nation, and budget repair.”

“We are committed to building sovereign AI capability in Australia. The lure of concessional tax on sweat equity in international markets, such as Singapore and the US, is already a challenge for us to keep our best and brightest in Australia, but the opportunity to build a sovereign AI industry for their own country goes a long way to keep them at home.”

“That sentiment risks waning if we adopt the world’s highest effective tax rate on startup equity. We want to work with Government to help them develop an understanding of our sector, and the return on investment in sovereign AI capability.”

“While a number of commendable technology-focused measures were announced in last night’s budget, the disadvantages of Australia having the highest capital gains tax on startup equity will render these nugatory.”

“We welcome the Government’s post budget commentary that they will consult further with the technology industry and look forward to participating in this process.”