Capital Gains Tax Calculator

How Property Capital Gains Tax is Calculated

Capital gains tax (CGT) is the income tax added by a taxable capital gain. This calculator separates that gain from the estimated additional tax and the cash available after sale.

1. Build the property's cost base from its purchase price and allowable costs, then subtract required cost-base reductions.
2. Apply the ownership share to the sale proceeds and costs. Subtract the adjusted cost base to find the owner's gain.
3. Apply any supported exemption, then allocated capital losses, then the eligible CGT discount.
4. Calculate tax with and without the net gain. The difference is the added income tax, with the entered Medicare assumption added for residents.

The ATO discount method applies losses before the discount. A capital loss reduces capital gains, rather than salary or wages. Enter only losses allocated to this sale after considering other gains in the year.

The cost-base worksheet shows your share of each item and exports to CSV for spreadsheet use. Acquisition costs include allowable stamp duty and legal fees. Improvement costs include eligible capital expenditure, while cost-base reductions include capital works deductions that must be removed.

Exclude amounts already deducted or deductible. Eligible non-deductible holding costs can reduce a gain, but they do not enter this worksheet's reduced cost base for a loss. Proceeds between the cost base and reduced cost base produce neither a gain nor a loss.

The purchase and sale contract dates determine the discount holding period. The worksheet excludes both event days when testing the 12-month requirement. Older acquisitions requiring indexation or historical exemptions use Confirmed gain.

Investment Property, Main Residence and Vacant Land

Investment-property and vacant-land sales use the same cost worksheet, with separate purchase, improvement and selling costs. This model covers property held on capital account. Property development profits and a sale treated as business income need a confirmed tax calculation.

Rental first, then home covers a resident's simple history where the whole property was initially rented and later became their main residence. Enter the settlement-to-settlement ownership period and the non-exempt days within it. The worksheet multiplies the gain or loss by non-exempt days divided by ownership days before applying losses and any discount.

For example, a $270,000 gain with 1,000 non-exempt days out of 2,000 ownership days leaves $135,000 before losses and discount. With no losses and the resident discount, the net gain is $67,500. At the other starting settings, estimated additional tax is $23,875.

A home that later becomes a rental can require a market valuation when first used to earn income. Partial business use, overlapping homes, absence choices and inherited interests can also change the calculation. Gather acquisition and settlement records, use periods and any required change-of-use valuation, then enter the established net gain in Confirmed gain.

Enter zero as the confirmed gain only when the full exemption is established. The ATO's home and rental-use rules explain the conditions, including the market-value rule. Choosing a main-residence history here does not establish eligibility for an exemption.

Resident, Non-Resident and SMSF Ownership

For individuals, the worksheet supports full-year Australian tax residents with no foreign or temporary-resident periods during ownership, or full-year nonresidents who were foreign residents throughout ownership. Use Confirmed gain where temporary-resident periods affect the CGT discount.

Citizenship alone does not establish tax residency. Each joint owner runs their share separately using their own income and losses.

An eligible resident receives the 50% discount after the holding-period test. Nonresident worksheet mode taxes the undiscounted gain and excludes Medicare. It supports only acquisitions after the statutory foreign-discount boundary. Earlier acquisitions and changing residency histories use a confirmed gain under the ATO foreign-resident discount rules.

A self-managed super fund (SMSF) uses the complying-fund branch. An eligible fund receives an exact one-third discount after losses, with ordinary taxable gains taxed at 15%. Accumulation mode applies that rate to the net gain.

For proportionate exempt current pension income (ECPI), enter the established actuarial exempt percentage. The fund applies this percentage after losses and the discount. For example, a $270,000 gain less $30,000 of losses becomes $160,000 after discount. A 40% exempt percentage leaves $96,000 taxable and estimated tax of $14,400.

A segregated current pension asset's gain or loss is disregarded. The ATO's ECPI treatment distinguishes that method from proportionate treatment. Use Confirmed gain for transitional relief or a more complex gain allocation.

A confirmed fund gain must already include ECPI treatment. For non-arm's length income, enter the accountant-confirmed amount in Confirmed additional tax. Confirmed gain still uses the ordinary 15% fund rate.

The individual estimate includes the low income tax offset but excludes other offsets and income-tested adjustments. The starting 2% Medicare assumption does not calculate low-income reductions, family thresholds or surcharges. Enter Confirmed additional tax to replace the complete tax provision where these matter, including part-year tax residency.

Australian Rules Across States

CGT uses federal rules across NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. A Sydney property uses the same selected income-tax schedule as property elsewhere in Australia. State purchase duties can form part of acquisition costs, but the tool does not apply a separate state CGT rate.

Select the financial year containing the sale contract. The calculator supports 2025-26 and 2026-27 using the shared legislated income-tax schedules. The first resident taxable band changes from 16% to 15%. Higher resident bands and the supported nonresident schedule remain the same.

A changed rate does not always change the tax added by a gain. At the starting $100,000 other income, the $135,000 net gain adds the same tax in both years. When a gain falls within a changed band, selecting the other year changes the result. This comparison covers these published schedules, rather than proposed CGT changes.

Tax Provision and Funds Available After Sale

The starting example sells a property for $950,000. Its $600,000 purchase price, $25,000 acquisition costs, $40,000 improvements and $25,000 selling costs total $690,000. Removing $10,000 of cost-base reductions leaves $680,000 and a $270,000 gain.

With full ownership, no capital losses and the eligible resident discount, the net gain is $135,000. Adding it to $100,000 other taxable income produces $51,100 additional income tax. The 2% Medicare assumption adds $2,700, giving a $53,800 tax provision.

Selling costs enter both the cost-base calculation and the cash reconciliation because they reduce the gain and must be paid. The cash reconciliation subtracts them once. The mortgage payout reduces available cash without reducing the capital gain.

Settlement withholding is a payment towards the final tax liability. The foreign-resident capital gains withholding rules set the applicable requirements. Current property contracts generally use 15% withholding unless a resident provides a clearance certificate or an applicable variation changes the amount. Enter the actual amount for this owner.

If the example withholds $142,500, cash at settlement falls to $362,500. That withholding already exceeds the $53,800 provision, so the further reserve is zero. The $88,700 excess remains unavailable for the next purchase until refunded or otherwise released. Funds after ultimate tax remain $451,200 under these assumptions.

This free calculator runs locally in your browser and exports its worksheet without an account. It is separate from the ATO's CGT calculator and does not prepare a tax return. An assessment can differ because of other gains or losses, offsets, valuations, capital works adjustments or property history. Use the confirmed additional-tax field when an accountant has established the sale's tax provision.