iscover 
The survey, commissioned by SME lender RedZed, found brokers are already seeing confidence weaken among small-business owners and self-employed borrowers, with many delaying finance decisions and reassessing borrowing plans following the government’s proposed changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax arrangements.
Of the almost 200 mortgage brokers surveyed, half said their small-business clients felt either somewhat or very negative about the budget, while 36 per cent reported a somewhat or very positive reaction.
The federal budget proposes introducing a 30 per cent minimum tax on discretionary trusts, reducing capital gains tax concessions, and removing negative gearing on residential investment properties purchased after 12 May 2026 from 1 July 2027.
Industry groups, such as Commercial & Asset Finance Brokers Association (CAFBA), said the changes could increase complexity and compliance costs for SMEs, particularly family-run businesses that use trusts and property investment as part of their long-term financial strategy.
Brokers said borrowers were most concerned about reduced borrowing capacity, the outlook for interest rates, and the potential loss of investment incentives under the proposed reforms.
The research also found 85 per cent of brokers believed the budget would affect property prices, while 81 per cent said the measures would have a moderate, significant, or very significant impact on investor demand and the broader housing market.
More than half of brokers surveyed said they opposed the proposed capital gains tax changes, while 56 per cent said they were moderately or very concerned about the impact the budget could have on their own businesses.
RedZed CEO Calvin Cordle said the findings highlighted growing uncertainty among self-employed borrowers, particularly around serviceability and tax treatment.
“What came through clearly in the survey of mortgage brokers was their clients’ reduced serviceability due to the loss of negative gearing benefits, as well as the increased complexity in income and tax treatment,” Cordle said.
“Their clients who could previously transact are now revising expectations.”
Cordle also said the budget measures would do little to improve housing affordability, while increasing pressure on small-business owners already dealing with elevated operating costs.
“If the Budget was meant to be about housing affordability, why tax small business more?” he said.
“Self-employed business owners fear their hard graft will go straight to the Government to fund their big spending.”
Despite the concerns, brokers identified several areas where lending activity remained strong, including construction lending, SMSF lending, commercial property finance, refinancing, and debt restructuring.
RedZed said some investors may increasingly turn to alternative ownership structures, such as self-managed super funds, as policy settings change, while commercial property could attract stronger interest because it is less directly affected by the proposed reforms.
Fintechs go viral
Following the budget announcement, members of the mortgage broking and fintech sectors took to social media with a tongue-in-cheek campaign criticising the proposed tax changes.
The trend began with Julian Fayad, founder and CEO of LoanOptions.ai, who jokingly announced the Prime Minister as a “co-founder” of the business because he would allegedly have to “give him 47 per cent equity”.
Speaking to Broker Daily, Fayad said the post was intended as satire.
“It worked like a meme. It wasn’t at all claiming it was real – it was clearly satirical,” he said.
“In internet culture, if you do something stupid, you’re fair game to be meme’d.”
The post was quickly replicated across the industry, including by Frank Greeff, founder of AI assistant Kinso.
After the posts generated more than 3 million combined views, shadow treasurer Tim Wilson invited Fayad to meet in person on 17 May to discuss the issue.
“In 24 hours, I managed to put together an amazing group of people to represent the needs of business owners with diverse perspectives and backgrounds,” Fayad told Broker Daily.
“Everyone had so many different things on but made it work, because they believed the cause was worth us banding together.”
A second roundtable hosted by Wilson was also held in Melbourne on Tuesday, 19 May.
[Related: New lending product launched amid rising business pressure]
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