Capital Gains Tax Calculator for Australian Investors
Estimate the capital gains tax on the sale of an Australian investment property. Enter your purchase and sale prices, your buying and selling costs, how long you held the property and your marginal tax rate, and this free calculator works out your capital gain, the 50% discount if it applies, and the tax you are likely to pay.
It is built for Australian CGT rules, so it applies the 50% discount on assets held longer than 12 months and treats the gain as part of your assessable income.
More than 12 months qualifies for the 50% CGT discount
Total capital gain on sale
Capital Gains Tax (CGT): In Australia, when you sell an investment property for more than you paid, the profit (capital gain) is added to your taxable income and taxed at your marginal tax rate.
50% CGT Discount: If you hold the property for more than 12 months before selling, individual taxpayers are entitled to a 50% discount on the capital gain. This means only half of the gain is added to your taxable income.
Primary Residence Exemption: Your main residence (the home you live in) is generally exempt from CGT. This calculator is designed for investment properties only.
Note: This calculator provides estimates only. Capital gains calculations can be complex and may involve other factors such as capital improvements, depreciation, and prior capital losses. Consult with a qualified tax professional for personalised advice.
How the capital gains tax calculator works
- 1
Enter the purchase and sale prices
Put in what you paid for the property and what you sold it for. The difference, less your costs, is your capital gain.
- 2
Add your buying and selling costs
Include stamp duty and conveyancing on the way in, and agent fees and marketing on the way out. These costs reduce your gain.
- 3
Enter how long you held the property
Owning the property for more than 12 months unlocks the 50% CGT discount for individual investors.
- 4
Set your marginal tax rate
The taxable gain is added to your income, so choose the rate that reflects where the gain lands.
- 5
Read your capital gain and CGT
See your full gain, the taxable portion after any discount, and the estimated tax payable.
A worked Australian example
Say you bought an investment property for $500,000, sold it five years later for $750,000, and your costs and tax rate look like this.
- Sale price
- $750,000
- Purchase price
- -$500,000
- Purchase costs (stamp duty, legal)
- -$25,000
- Selling costs (agent, marketing)
- -$15,000
- Capital gain
- $210,000
- Taxable gain after 50% discount
- $105,000
- Estimated CGT (at 30%)
- $31,500
The sale produces a $210,000 capital gain. Because you held the property for more than 12 months, only half of that, $105,000, is added to your taxable income. At a 30% marginal rate that is about $31,500 in capital gains tax. Held for under 12 months the full $210,000 would be taxable, which shows how valuable the 50% discount is.
What is capital gains tax?
Capital gains tax is not a separate tax in Australia. When you sell an investment property for more than it cost you, the profit is a capital gain that gets added to your assessable income for that year and taxed at your marginal rate.
The gain is counted in the year the CGT event happens, which for a sale is the date you sign the contract, not the settlement date. If the discounted gain is large it can push part of your income into a higher tax bracket, so the flat-rate estimate here is a guide rather than an exact figure.
The 50% CGT discount
If you are an individual and you owned the property for more than 12 months before selling, you generally qualify for the 50% CGT discount. That means only half of your capital gain is added to your taxable income, as in the worked example above.
The 12 months runs from the day after you acquired the property to the date of the sale contract. Companies do not receive the discount, and self-managed super funds receive a smaller one third discount, so the benefit is most valuable to individual and trust investors.
Costs that reduce your capital gain
Your capital gain is the sale price minus your cost base, not just minus the purchase price. The cost base includes what you paid plus stamp duty, legal and conveyancing fees, buyer's agent fees, and the cost of any capital improvements you made, such as a renovation or a new kitchen. Selling costs like agent commission, marketing and legal fees also come off the gain.
One catch to know: depreciation you have already claimed as a deduction over the years is generally excluded from the cost base, which can increase your gain at sale. It is worth tracking these figures from the start so there are no surprises at tax time.
Other things that change your CGT
A few situations can change the bill. If the property was ever your main residence you may get a full or partial exemption, including under the six year rule for periods you rented it out while living elsewhere. Capital losses from other investments can be offset against your gain, and any unused loss carries forward to future years.
Timing matters too, since the year you sign the contract decides which income year the gain falls into. This calculator gives estimates only and does not account for every situation, so confirm your position with a registered tax agent or accountant before you sell.
Frequently asked questions
How is capital gains tax calculated on an investment property in Australia?
Work out your capital gain as the sale price minus your cost base (purchase price plus buying and selling costs). If you held the property for more than 12 months, halve the gain with the 50% discount, then add the result to your income and tax it at your marginal rate.
What is the 50% CGT discount?
It is a discount that lets individual investors who held an asset for more than 12 months include only half of their capital gain in their taxable income. On a $210,000 gain, the discount means only $105,000 is taxed.
When do I pay capital gains tax?
You report the gain in your tax return for the income year in which the CGT event happens. For a property sale that is the year you sign the contract, not the year settlement occurs, which can matter if the two fall in different financial years.
Do I pay CGT when I sell my own home?
Your main residence is generally exempt from capital gains tax, so this calculator is built for investment properties. If a property was your home for part of the time you owned it, a partial exemption may apply.
What is the six year rule for capital gains tax?
If a property was once your main residence and you move out and rent it, the six year rule lets you keep treating it as your main residence for CGT for up to six years while it earns income. A sale within that window can be fully or partly exempt. You can only treat one property as your main residence at a time, so it is worth getting advice before relying on it.
Can capital losses reduce my capital gains tax?
Yes. Capital losses from selling other assets can be offset against your capital gains, which lowers the amount that is taxed. If your losses are more than your gains in a year, the unused loss carries forward to offset gains in future years.
Does the discount apply if I hold for exactly 12 months?
No. You need to hold the property for more than 12 months, counted from the day after you acquired it to the date of the sale contract. Selling at or before the 12 month mark means the whole gain is taxable with no discount.
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