CGT Change Calculator

Stockspot is Australia's largest digital investment adviser, helping more than 20,000 Australians invest and manage over $1.4 billion tax efficiently.

We build and manage diversified ETF portfolios for clients with balances from $1,000 to over $5 million dollars, automatically rebalancing portfolios, keeping costs low and doing the investing work for you. See how it works.

Five things make Stockspot portfolios tax efficient by design.

ETFs are generally more tax efficient

Unlike many active managed funds, ETFs typically realise fewer capital gains inside the fund. That means investors often avoid unnecessary taxable events and keep more of their money compounding over time.

A long term investment approach

Our portfolios are designed for long term investing, not frequent trading. By reducing unnecessary turnover, investors may be able to defer capital gains tax into the future and keep more of their money compounding for longer.

Smart rebalancing designed to minimise unnecessary tax events

We automatically rebalance portfolios to keep investments aligned with their target allocation. Our technology is designed to avoid unnecessary trading where possible, helping reduce avoidable CGT events.

Tax reporting done for you

We provide a single annual tax statement covering distributions, franking credits, realised gains and cost bases. That means less admin, fewer surprises and no need to reconcile multiple ETF statements yourself.

Franking credits passed through to investors

Australian shares in our portfolios may generate franking credits, which can help reduce tax or potentially generate refunds depending on your circumstances. We make it easy to track and include them at tax time.

The 2026 Federal Budget announced major changes to Australia's capital gains tax system for investments held outside superannuation.

Under the current system, individuals who hold an asset for more than 12 months generally only pay tax on 50% of their capital gain.

Under the new proposed rules, the current 50% CGT discount would largely be replaced by an inflation indexation system from 1 July 2027.

Instead of reducing the gain by a fixed 50%, the original purchase price of the asset would be increased in line with inflation before calculating the taxable gain. This means investors would generally only receive tax relief for the portion of the gain attributable to inflation.

The Government also announced that many capital gains may become subject to a minimum effective 30% tax rate regardless of an investor's normal marginal tax rate.

For assets owned before 1 July 2027 and sold afterwards, the Government says transitional rules will apply. Taxpayers may be able to either use a time apportionment method to split gains between the old and new systems, or obtain a market valuation at 1 July 2027 to separate gains under each regime.

Australia previously used a capital gains tax indexation system before the current 50% CGT discount was introduced in 1999.

The legislation has not yet passed Parliament and the final implementation details may still change. This calculator is based on the announced Budget framework and publicly available information at the time of writing.

The announced changes would mainly affect Australians who hold investments outside superannuation, including investment properties, shares, ETFs, managed funds, business assets, startup equity, employee share schemes, cryptocurrency and other growth assets.

The changes are expected to particularly affect investments where a large proportion of the return comes from long term capital growth rather than ongoing income.

Your principal place of residence is expected to remain largely exempt from capital gains tax under the current framework.

Investments already held inside superannuation are also not currently expected to be directly affected by the new CGT rules, although super continues to operate under its own separate tax rules and contribution limits.

For assets purchased before 1 July 2027 and sold afterwards, transitional rules are expected to apply, with gains before and after that date potentially treated under different tax systems.

The legislation has not yet passed Parliament and some implementation details may still change as draft legislation and ATO guidance are released.

Yes. The announced changes are expected to apply broadly to most investments subject to capital gains tax outside superannuation, not just investment property.

That includes Australian shares, international shares, ETFs, managed funds, business assets, startup equity, employee share schemes, cryptocurrency and other growth assets.

There's currently been no indication that listed investments like shares and ETFs would be exempt from the new framework.

In practice, that means many Australians investing through brokerage accounts, ETFs or managed funds could potentially be affected by the replacement of the 50% CGT discount with inflation indexation, the proposed minimum 30% CGT floor, and the new transitional rules applying from 1 July 2027.

Investments held inside superannuation are not currently expected to be directly affected by these particular CGT changes.

Under the announced Budget changes, many capital gains may face a minimum effective tax rate of 30%, regardless of the investor's normal marginal tax rate.

This means some lower income investors could pay materially more CGT than under the previous system even after inflation indexation is applied.

The final operation of the rules will depend on the legislation passed by Parliament.

No. The calculator currently focuses on the announced capital gains tax changes only and does not model the separate negative gearing reforms announced in the 2026 Federal Budget.

For investment property investors, the removal or restriction of negative gearing benefits could further reduce after tax returns beyond the CGT impacts shown in the calculator.

In particular, the Budget announced that purchases of many existing residential investment properties after Budget night will no longer receive full negative gearing benefits under the proposed framework.

That means some property investors could potentially experience higher annual after tax holding costs, lower tax deductions during ownership, higher tax on eventual capital gains, and materially lower long term after tax returns overall.

As a result, the calculator may understate the total impact of the combined property tax changes for some investment property scenarios.

The final impact will depend on the type of property, whether the property is newly built or existing, financing costs, rental income, holding period, personal tax circumstances and the final legislation passed by Parliament.

Because many Australians purchased assets under the existing CGT system, the Government announced transitional rules for assets owned before 1 July 2027 and sold afterwards.

Under the proposed framework, gains before and after 1 July 2027 may effectively be treated under different tax systems.

The portion relating to the period before 1 July 2027 may continue receiving the existing 50% CGT discount. The portion relating to the period after 1 July 2027 may instead fall under the new inflation indexation system and minimum 30% CGT framework.

The Government has indicated taxpayers may be able to choose between two transition methods: a time apportionment method, or a market valuation method at 1 July 2027.

This calculator currently uses the proposed time apportionment method only. Under this approach, the gain is split based on how long the asset was held before and after 1 July 2027, rather than how much the asset increased in value during each period.

For example, imagine you bought an investment in 2017 and sold it in 2032. If the new rules begin on 1 July 2027, you would have held the asset for 10 years under the old system and 5 years under the new system. Roughly two thirds of the holding period would continue using the existing 50% CGT discount, while the remaining one third would use the new indexed framework.

The Government has also indicated taxpayers may alternatively be able to obtain a market valuation at 1 July 2027 to separate gains under the old and new systems. This calculator does not model that alternative methodology.

The legislation has not yet passed Parliament and implementation details may still evolve.

Under the current system, Australians who hold an investment for more than 12 months generally only pay tax on 50% of their capital gain. The remaining half of the gain is effectively tax free. The system doesn't adjust for inflation.

Under the new proposed system, the 50% CGT discount would largely be replaced by inflation indexation from 1 July 2027.

Instead of automatically discounting half the gain, the original purchase price of the asset, known as the cost base, would be increased in line with inflation before calculating the taxable gain. Investors would then pay tax on the gain above inflation, sometimes called the "real" gain.

However, under the announced Budget framework, many gains may also become subject to a minimum effective 30% tax rate regardless of the investor's normal marginal tax rate.

That means the new system isn't simply only taxing inflation adjusted gains. It may also increase the effective tax rate applied to many long term investors.

The difference matters because each system benefits different types of investments and investors.

If inflation is high and investment returns are relatively modest, indexation may sometimes produce a lower taxable gain. But for long term growth assets that rise well above inflation, such as shares, ETFs, property or startup equity, the previous 50% CGT discount was often materially more generous.

That's why the impact of the new rules can vary significantly depending on your holding period, investment return, inflation rate, tax bracket and how much of the gain occurs before or after 1 July 2027.

The Federal Budget announced that the new CGT system is intended to commence from 1 July 2027, subject to the legislation passing Parliament.

Under the proposed framework, assets held before 1 July 2027 may continue to partially access the existing 50% CGT discount through transitional rules, while gains relating to periods after 1 July 2027 may instead fall under the new inflation indexation system and minimum 30% CGT framework.

The calculator currently uses 1 July 2027 as the assumed commencement date for all calculations.

The legislation and implementation details have not yet been finalised and some aspects of the rules may still evolve as Treasury releases draft legislation and the ATO provides further guidance.

This calculator provides an estimate based on the capital gains tax changes announced in the 2026 Federal Budget and publicly available information at the time of writing.

The calculator uses the Government's proposed time apportionment transition method, which allocates gains between the old and new systems based on how long an asset was held before and after 1 July 2027.

The Government has also indicated taxpayers may alternatively be able to use a market valuation method at 1 July 2027. This calculator does not model that alternative methodology.

The calculator assumes post 1 July 2027 gains are taxed under the proposed inflation indexation framework and may also be subject to the proposed minimum 30% CGT rate.

Because the legislation has not yet passed Parliament, the calculator relies on assumptions and implementation details that may still change as draft legislation and ATO guidance are released.

The calculator also doesn't take into account your full personal tax position, including carried forward losses, small business CGT concessions, company or trust structures, employee share scheme rules, foreign tax offsets, depreciation, trust distributions or other personal tax circumstances.

It's designed as an educational tool only and shouldn't be treated as financial, tax or legal advice. You should speak with a registered tax adviser before making financial or investment decisions.

No. This calculator is an educational tool that provides general information only. It doesn't take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs and shouldn't be considered financial, tax or legal advice.

The calculator is based on the capital gains tax changes announced in the 2026 Federal Budget and publicly available information at the time of writing. The legislation has not yet passed Parliament and the final rules and implementation details may still change.

Results are estimates only and may differ materially depending on future legislation, ATO guidance and your personal circumstances.

Stockspot recommends speaking with a registered tax adviser or licensed financial adviser before making investment, tax or financial decisions.

No. The calculator is completely free to use and doesn't require a Stockspot account, sign up or login.

Simply enter your details to estimate how the new CGT rules announced in the 2026 Federal Budget could affect your after tax investment returns.

We also don't store, save or retain the information you enter into the calculator.

Yes, to a degree. While you generally can't avoid capital gains tax entirely on investments held outside superannuation, the way you invest can influence how much tax you pay and when you pay it.

Under the new proposed CGT framework, tax efficiency may become even more important because higher effective tax rates and the proposed 30% CGT floor could materially increase the long term impact of unnecessary taxable events.

Index ETFs, like those used in Stockspot portfolios, typically have lower portfolio turnover than many active funds. That means fewer investments being bought and sold inside the fund, which can help reduce unnecessary realised capital gains over time.

You also generally control when you sell your investments, which affects when capital gains are realised, how long assets qualify under different tax rules, and whether gains fall before or after 1 July 2027 under the proposed transition framework.

A long term investment approach can also help defer tax into the future, allowing more of your money to remain invested and compounding over time.

Keeping costs low matters too. Lower fees mean you keep more of your investment return regardless of the tax system in place.

Diversification, disciplined investing and minimising unnecessary turnover are likely to become even more valuable under the new rules.

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