Capital Gains Tax
Calculator AU 2026

The 50% Capital Gains Tax discount allows Australian individual taxpayers (and trusts) to halve any capital gain on assets held longer than 12 months before being added to their assessable income. Held 11 months 30 days = no discount, taxed in full. Held 1 year and 1 day = 50% discount, only half added to income. The discount applies to most CGT events: sale of shares, ETFs, property (excluding main residence which is generally CGT-free), crypto, and other capital assets. SMSFs (self-managed super funds) get a smaller 33.33% discount instead of 50%. Companies get no discount.

Step 1: Capital proceeds (sale price) minus cost base (purchase price + buying costs + capital improvements + selling costs) = gross capital gain. Step 2: If asset held >12 months and you're an individual or trust, apply 50% discount (or 33.33% for SMSF). Step 3: Apply any current-year capital losses to reduce the discounted gain. Step 4: Add the net capital gain to your taxable income for the financial year. Step 5: Tax is calculated at your marginal income tax rate on this combined total. There is no separate CGT rate in Australia — capital gains are taxed at ordinary income tax rates.

Yes — under the main residence exemption in section 118-110 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, the family home you own and live in is generally fully exempt from CGT when sold. Conditions: the home must have been your main residence throughout your ownership period (or for the relevant portion). Special rules: the 6-year absence rule lets you keep the exemption if you rent it out for up to 6 years while living elsewhere. Land >2 hectares may have partial exemption. Foreign residents (non-tax-residents) lost main residence exemption from 30 June 2020 except in limited 'life events' circumstances.

The cost base includes five elements: (1) money paid or property given to acquire the asset, (2) incidental costs of acquisition (stamp duty, legal fees, broker commissions), (3) ownership costs for assets acquired after 20 August 1991 — interest on loans, rates, insurance, repairs (only for assets where these aren't deductible elsewhere), (4) capital expenditure to increase or preserve the asset's value (renovations, additions), (5) capital expenditure to establish, preserve or defend title. Selling costs (advertising, agent fees, legal fees on sale) reduce the capital proceeds before calculating the gain.

The ATO treats cryptocurrency as property (not currency), making it a CGT asset. Each disposal — selling for fiat, swapping one crypto for another, using crypto to buy goods/services, or transferring it to someone else — is a CGT event. Calculate the gain in AUD: sale value (or market value at swap time) minus cost base. The 50% discount applies if held longer than 12 months. The 'personal use asset' exemption (under $10,000) generally doesn't apply to crypto held for investment. ATO data-matching with crypto exchanges (Independent Reserve, BTC Markets, CoinSpot, Binance Australia) is comprehensive — non-disclosure carries shortfall penalties of 25-75%.

Yes. Current-year capital losses are applied first against current-year capital gains BEFORE the 50% discount is applied. Any remaining unused losses are carried forward indefinitely as 'net capital losses' to offset future capital gains (not other income). Loss-making strategies must satisfy the ATO's 'wash sale' guidance (Tax Determination TD 2008/12) — selling and rebuying substantially the same asset specifically to crystallise a loss can be denied if the dominant purpose is tax minimisation. Capital losses on collectables can only offset gains on collectables.

Non-residents (those not Australian tax residents) face several CGT differences: (1) The 50% CGT discount is removed for non-residents on assets acquired after 8 May 2012. For older assets, partial discount may apply pro-rata for the period of residency. (2) Non-residents are only assessable on CGT events involving 'taxable Australian property' (real property, mining rights, indirect interests in Australian land). (3) Non-resident tax rates are 30% from $0 to $135,000, 37% to $190,000, 45% above. (4) From 1 July 2017, non-residents lost access to the main residence exemption (with rare 'life event' carve-outs).

SMSFs in accumulation phase pay a flat 15% tax on income and capital gains. The CGT discount is 33.33% (one-third) instead of 50% — so only two-thirds of the gain is taxed at 15%, giving an effective rate of 10% on long-held gains. Pension phase: assets supporting an account-based pension within transfer balance cap ($1.9M for 2024-25) are tax-free at the fund level — both income and capital gains. The transfer balance cap is indexed and may rise. Splitting accumulation/pension phases via a 'segregated assets' or 'proportional' method affects how CGT applies to disposals.

There is no separate CGT bill. The capital gain (after discount and loss offsets) is added to your assessable income in the financial year of the CGT event (typically the contract date, not settlement date for property). The combined income is taxed at your marginal rate when you lodge your annual tax return (typically by 31 October for self-lodgers, May the following year via a registered tax agent). PAYG instalment system may require quarterly tax payments throughout the year if your investment income is significant.

ATO requires records for at least 5 years after a CGT event. Retain: contracts of sale and purchase, broker statements, settlement statements (property), bank records of purchase and sale, receipts for capital improvements, records of expenses included in cost base (stamp duty, legal fees, agent fees), valuations if relevant. For shares, brokerage platforms (CommSec, SelfWealth, Stake, Pearler) retain trade history and provide annual tax statements. For crypto, exchanges issue downloadable transaction records. Software like Sharesight, Koinly, and CoinTracking automates CGT calculations.