2026-27 · 50% discount

Capital gains tax calculator

Sold shares or property for a profit? See what you'll owe under today's 50% discount — and how the new rules from 1 July 2027 would change your bill.

How much capital gains tax will you pay?

Sell shares or property for a profit and the gain is added to your income. See what you owe now — and how the 2027 changes would hit it.

What did you sell?

Buy price

Sell price

Buy + sell costs

Brokerage, legals, agent

Years held

Under 1 year = no discount

Your other taxable income

Tax on your $20,000 gain (current rules)

$3,200

leaving you $16,800 after tax — an effective rate of 16%.

Capital gain

$20,000

Taxable (after discount)

$10,000

Tax payable

$3,200

You keep

$16,800

Because you held it over 12 months, the 50% CGT discount applies — saving about $3,200 versus selling before the 12-month mark.

Coming 1 July 2027: the 50% discount is scrapped

Now (to 30 Jun 2027)

$3,200

From 1 July 2027

$5,979

On this gain you'd pay $2,779 more — the discount is replaced by inflation-indexing your cost base to about $11,314 (taxing the $18,686 real gain), plus a 30% minimum.

Current rules (in force now, for 2025-26 and 2026-27): the gain, after the 50% discount if held 12+ months, is added to your income and taxed at your marginal rate plus 2% Medicare. The 1 July 2027 regime (Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 (assent 26 June 2026)) is illustrative — it CPI-indexes the cost base (estimated here at 2.5% / yr) and applies the higher of your marginal rate or a 30% minimum. Existing assets keep the old rules on gains up to 30 June 2027 (a deemed disposal), so a real asset spanning the date is a blend. Excludes capital losses and the main-residence exemption. A guide, not tax advice.

Step by step — current rules

Sale proceeds	$30,000
less Cost base (buy price + buy/sell costs)	− $10,000
Gross capital gain	$20,000
less 50% CGT discount (held 12+ months)	− $10,000
Net taxable gain (added to your income)	$10,000
Tax on the gain — marginal rate 30% + 2% Medicare	− $3,200
After-tax gain you keep	$16,800

Your $10,000 taxable gain sits on top of your $90,000 income, so it's taxed at your marginal rate (30% on the top of it). Across the whole $20,000 gain that's an effective rate of 16%.

Current rules vs from 1 July 2027

Step	Current	From 1 Jul 2027
Cost base used	$10,000	$11,314
Taxable gain	$10,000	$18,686
Tax payable	$3,200	$5,979
After-tax gain	$16,800	$14,021
Effective rate on gain	16%	30%

Difference under the 2027 rules+$2,779 more

Today's rules take a 50% discount off the gain when you hold 12+ months. From 1 July 2027 that discount is gone: your $10,000 cost base is CPI-indexed to $11,314 (2.5%/yr over 5 yr), only the $18,686 real gain is taxed, and you pay the higher of your marginal rate or a 30% floor.

Which method wins as you hold longer

Held for	Current CGT	2027 CGT	Cheaper
6 mo	$6,400	$6,400	Same
1 yr	$3,200	$6,320	Current
2 yr	$3,200	$6,238	Current
3 yr	$3,200	$6,154	Current
5 yryou	$3,200	$5,979	Current
7 yr	$3,200	$5,796	Current
10 yr	$3,200	$5,504	Current
15 yr	$3,200	$4,965	Current
20 yr	$3,200	$4,356	Current
25 yr	$3,200	$3,667	Current
30 yr	$3,200	$2,888	2027

At these prices the 2027 indexed method becomes cheaper than today's 50% discount once you hold for about 30 yr or more — the longer you hold, the more of your gain is treated as inflation rather than a taxable profit.

Go deeper — sensitivity & timing

Three what-if sweeps, each built by re-running the same two calculators across a range of holding periods, gain sizes and income years — so you can see the levers behind the single answer.

Sell at 6 mo / 13 mo / 2 yr / 5 yr — CGT and what you keep

Held for	Current CGT	You keep	2027 CGT	You keep
6 mono discount	$6,400	$13,600	$6,400	$13,600
13 mo	$3,200	$16,800	$6,313	$13,687
2 yr	$3,200	$16,800	$6,238	$13,762
5 yryou	$3,200	$16,800	$5,979	$14,021

CGT payable vs how long you hold

Current rules (50% discount) From 1 Jul 2027 (CPI-indexed)

The current-rules line steps down the instant you cross 12 months — that vertical drop is the 50% discount switching on. The 2027 line only bends down after 12 months, as CPI-indexing lifts your cost base; before then it can even sit higher, because the 30% floor taxes a short-held gain with no discount to soften it.

Rush to sell before 30 Jun 2027, or wait? — by gain size

Capital gain	Sell this FY	From 2027	Cost of waiting	Better move
$5,000	$800	$1,179	+$379	Sell now
$10,000	$1,600	$2,779	+$1,179	Sell now
$20,000you	$3,200	$5,979	+$2,779	Sell now
$40,000	$6,400	$12,379	+$5,979	Sell now
$80,000	$12,800	$27,538	+$14,738	Sell now

Same 5 yr hold and $90,000 income — only the gain grows. Waiting into the 2027 regime costs more at every gain size shown — at 2.5%/yr indexing removes less than the 50% discount over this hold, so realising before 30 Jun 2027 is the cheaper move.

Time the sale — the income year you realise it in

Other income that year	Marginal on gain	CGT	Eff. rate	You keep
$0 — no-income year	0%	$0	0%	$20,000
$45,000	30%	$3,200	16%	$16,800
$90,000you	30%	$3,200	16%	$16,800
$135,000	37%	$3,900	20%	$16,100
$180,000	37%	$3,900	20%	$16,100
$270,000	45%	$4,700	24%	$15,300

Same gain, same 12-month status — only the other income it stacks on changes. Realising it in a $0-income year (a career break, parental leave, or the first year of retirement) would cut the CGT from $3,200 to $0 — about $3,200 saved — because the discounted gain is still ordinary income, so its rate is entirely a function of what else you earn that year.

All figures are computed from your inputs above — the current-law calc adds the (discounted) gain to your other income and taxes it at your marginal rate plus 2% Medicare; the 1 July 2027 calc CPI-indexes the cost base and applies the higher of your marginal rate or a 30% floor. The holding-period rows re-run the same calc at each duration. Excludes capital losses and the main-residence exemption. A guide, not tax advice.

Capital gains tax isn't a separate tax with its own rate. The gain is added to your taxable income for the year you sell, so what you hand over depends on what else you earned. Two people can sell the same parcel of shares for the same profit and pay very different amounts.

Timing matters twice over. The twelve-month mark halves the gain that gets taxed, and from 1 July 2027 that 50% discount is replaced by an inflation-indexed cost base plus a 30% minimum. This page prices your sale under both sets of rules.

How this is calculated

1
Work out the gain against your cost base
Sale price less purchase price less the buying and selling costs you enter — brokerage, conveyancing, agent commission. What's left is the gross gain. A negative result shows zero tax, because a capital loss isn't taxed; the tool doesn't carry that loss forward for you.
2
Apply the 50% discount if you held long enough
A holding period of one year or more switches the discount on, halving the gain that gets taxed. Under twelve months the whole gain is taxable. The tool runs it both ways so it can show what the discount is worth to you.
3
Stack the taxable gain on your other income
The discounted gain is added to the other income you entered. The tax shown is the difference between your income tax plus 2% Medicare levy with the gain and without it, at the 2026-27 resident rates.
4
Re-price the same sale under the 2027 rules
The second calculation uses the 2027-28 rates. Instead of the discount, your cost base is lifted by an assumed 2.5% a year for each year held — only past twelve months — and just the real gain above it is taxed, at the higher of your marginal rate or a 30% minimum.
5
Compare the two across holding periods
The advanced panel re-runs both calculations across a spread of holding periods, gain sizes and income levels, so you can see where indexing overtakes a flat halving of the gain.

What it assumes

Resident individual rates only. Companies get no discount, super funds are treated differently, and gains distributed through a trust aren't modelled.
Capital losses are ignored. In a real return they're applied to the gross gain before the discount, which usually cuts the bill.
The main-residence exemption isn't applied, so the property setting won't reflect selling the home you live in.
No Medicare levy surcharge, study loan repayment or offset changes, which all move as the gain lifts your income.
The 2027 side uses a flat 2.5% a year CPI assumption — an illustration of how the mechanism behaves, not a forecast.
Assets held across 1 July 2027 get a deemed disposal just before that date, so a real bill would blend the two regimes. This tool prices each one whole.

Common questions

Is the gain triggered on the contract date or at settlement?

For a sale the CGT event is the date you enter the contract, not the day the money lands. That matters around 30 June: a contract signed in June but settling in August still falls in the earlier year. Nothing is withheld at the time either — the bill arrives with your assessment.

Does twelve months mean exactly twelve months?

You need to have owned the asset for at least twelve months, and both the day you acquired it and the day of the CGT event are excluded from the count — so a year plus a day in practice. The tool treats any holding period of one or more as qualifying, so check the real dates if you're near the line.

What can I add to my cost base?

Brokerage on the buy and the sell, conveyancing and legal fees, agent commission, and stamp duty on a property purchase all lift your cost base and reduce the gain. Costs already claimed as a deduction elsewhere generally can't be counted again. Put the total in the costs field.

Should I sell before 1 July 2027?

It depends on the gain and how long you've held. Over shorter holds a straight 50% discount usually beats indexation at the assumed CPI rate; over long holds, indexing the cost base can strip out more of the gain. The advanced panel shows the crossover for your own figures — general information, not advice.

Sources: ATO — Tax rates for Australian residents · Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 · All data sources

General information only, not financial advice. Figures are estimates based on the inputs and assumptions above and don't account for your personal circumstances. Confirm anything important with the relevant authority or a licensed adviser.

How this is calculated

Work out the gain against your cost base

Apply the 50% discount if you held long enough

Stack the taxable gain on your other income

Re-price the same sale under the 2027 rules

Compare the two across holding periods

What it assumes

Common questions

Is the gain triggered on the contract date or at settlement?

Does twelve months mean exactly twelve months?

What can I add to my cost base?

Should I sell before 1 July 2027?