Negative gearing calculator
The tax position while you hold the property.
Capital Gains Tax Calculator
When you sell an investment property the profit is added to your income and taxed at your marginal rate. Hold it over twelve months and only half the gain is counted.
Is that number right for your situation?
A calculator applies one formula. Lenders apply their own, and they disagree with each other. Send us what you worked out and we will tell you how it looks against real lender policy.
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How the discount works
Capital gains tax is not a separate tax. The gain is added to your taxable income for the year and taxed at your marginal rate, which is why selling in a high income year costs more than selling in a low one.
If you held the property for more than twelve months, only half the gain is added. That single rule is usually worth more than every other planning decision, and selling a few weeks short of the twelve month mark is an expensive mistake that people do make.
What counts as a cost
The cost base is more than the purchase price. It includes stamp duty, legal and conveyancing fees, buyer's agent fees, and capital improvements such as a renovation or a new kitchen. Selling costs including agent commission and marketing come off the sale side.
What does not go in the cost base are expenses you already claimed as deductions each year, such as interest, rates and repairs. Keeping records from the day you buy is what makes this straightforward years later; reconstructing it at sale time rarely goes well.
Timing and ownership
The liability arises on the contract date, not settlement, which matters if a sale straddles 30 June. Owning the property jointly splits the gain between owners, which often reduces the total tax because each portion is assessed at that person's own marginal rate.
If the property was your main residence for part of the time you owned it, a partial exemption may apply and this calculator will overstate the tax. That is a question for your accountant.
Common questions
Generally no. The main residence exemption usually applies to the home you live in. It becomes complicated if you rented it out for a period, moved out, or used part of it for business.
It forms part of your income tax assessment for the financial year in which the contract was signed, so it is paid when that return is assessed rather than at settlement. Set the money aside; the bill arrives later than the sale.
Yes. Capital losses offset capital gains, and unused losses carry forward indefinitely to future years. They cannot be offset against ordinary income.
No. The discount is available to individuals and trusts, and superannuation funds receive a different concession. Companies pay tax on the full gain.
Selling one and buying another?
Timing the finance alongside the sale is where this gets practical. We can help with that part.
Related
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Structuring the next purchase properly.
Usable equity calculator
Using equity instead of selling.