Budget 2026 CGT and Negative Gearing Changes
Official-source summary of the 2026-27 Federal Budget CGT and negative-gearing changes announced for 1 July 2027, and what the current calculators model.
General information only. Not tax or financial advice.
The 2026-27 Federal Budget announced future changes to capital gains tax (CGT) and negative gearing for Australian property investors. This page summarises what the Budget page says, then separates that from what Property Tax Tools calculators and spreadsheets currently model.
The key boundary is simple: the live calculators and the property investment spreadsheet remain current-law 2025-26 tools. They estimate the rules currently built into the product. They do not model the announced 2027 Budget settings, transition rules, or future legislation. (Budget 2026-27 - Tax reform)
Quick answer
The Budget announced a 1 July 2027 start date for both the CGT and negative-gearing changes. The announced CGT change would replace the 50% CGT discount with an inflation-based discount and a minimum 30% tax on gains. The announced negative-gearing change would limit negative gearing to new builds, with different loss-use treatment for some established housing bought after Budget night. (Budget 2026-27 - Tax reform)
Until the site explicitly ships a future-rule mode, use these pages for current-law estimates only:
- Capital gains tax calculator - current-law CGT estimate using the existing 50% discount logic where eligible.
- Negative gearing calculator - current-law annual tax-effect and weekly after-tax holding-cost estimate.
- Property investment spreadsheet - current-law scenario model for 2025-26 settings, not a Budget 2027 transition model.
What the Budget announced
| Area | Current site model | Budget announcement |
|---|---|---|
| CGT discount | Current-law model includes the 50% CGT discount for eligible Australian resident individuals who held the asset for at least 12 months (ATO — CGT discount). | From 1 July 2027, the Budget announced replacing the 50% CGT discount with an inflation-based discount and a minimum 30% tax on gains. The Budget says the reforms apply only to gains arising after 1 July 2027. (Budget 2026-27 - Tax reform) |
| New-build CGT choice | Current calculators do not ask whether the property is a new build for a future Budget choice. | The Budget announced that investors in new builds will be able to choose the 50% CGT discount or the new arrangements. (Budget 2026-27 - Tax reform) |
| Negative gearing | Current-law model treats a net rental loss as part of the investor’s taxable-income estimate, based on current ATO rental property settings (ATO — Residential rental properties). | From 1 July 2027, the Budget announced limiting negative gearing to new builds. (Budget 2026-27 - Tax reform) |
| Existing properties | Current calculators do not classify a property by Budget-night ownership status. | The Budget says existing arrangements remain unchanged for properties held before Budget night. (Budget 2026-27 - Tax reform) |
| Established housing bought after Budget night | Current calculators do not model this future transition category. | The Budget says losses can be deducted against residential property income and carried forward, but not deducted against other income like wages. (Budget 2026-27 - Tax reform) |
What has not changed on this site yet
Property Tax Tools has not added a 2027 Budget calculator mode, a new-build CGT choice, an established-housing transition flag, or a future-rule spreadsheet branch.
That is intentional. The current calculators are useful for current-year estimates, but a future Budget mode needs enacted detail before it can be treated as a rule implementation. Until that work is explicitly released, the Budget copy on the calculator pages is a warning boundary, not a formula change.
Which page should you use?
Use the capital gains tax calculator if you need a current-law CGT estimate for a sale scenario. It models the current 50% discount path where the existing eligibility inputs support it.
Use the CGT changes for property investors guide if your main question is how the announced Budget CGT changes interact with current-law calculator use, sale planning, and adviser questions.
Use the negative gearing calculator if you need a current-law estimate of annual tax effect, weekly cash position, and after-tax weekly holding cost.
Use the negative gearing changes Australia guide if your main question is how the announced Budget negative-gearing changes interact with current-law calculator use, new builds, established housing, and adviser questions.
Use the property investment spreadsheet if you need reusable modelling across CGT, negative gearing, land tax, depreciation, rental yield, and multi-year cash flow. The spreadsheet still uses the supported 2025-26 settings described on the product page.
Questions to take to your adviser
The Budget announcement raises planning questions that the calculators cannot answer as personal advice:
- Whether a property is treated as held before Budget night for transition purposes.
- Whether a future purchase would be a new build or established housing under enacted definitions.
- Whether carried-forward property losses would affect your timing assumptions.
- Whether sale timing, construction status, entity structure, or ownership split changes the result.
- Whether a future CGT choice for new builds would be better or worse than the current 50% discount in your specific scenario.
Use the calculators to organise numbers, not to decide a transaction.
What spreadsheet users should note
The property investment spreadsheet is useful for comparing scenarios under the current settings it supports. It is not a live legislative tracker and does not automatically change formulas when a Budget page is published.
If you are using the workbook to prepare an adviser discussion, keep a separate note for Budget-sensitive assumptions: purchase timing, new-build status, expected hold period, expected sale date, and whether any losses would be deducted against wages, residential property income, or carried forward under a future rule set.
The workbook should only be treated as modelling what it says it models on the product page and in the workbook notes.
Get Budget update notes
Receive source-linked notes about announced CGT and negative-gearing changes, calculator boundaries, and spreadsheet update notes. General information only.
Frequently asked questions
Are the 2027 Budget changes already in the calculators?
When are the announced CGT and negative-gearing changes meant to start?
What happens to properties held before Budget night?
Can new-build investors still use negative gearing under the announcement?
Does the property investment spreadsheet include these announced 2027 changes?
Sources
- Budget 2026-27 - Tax reform (retrieved 15 May 2026)
- ATO — CGT discount (retrieved 24 Apr 2026)
- ATO — Residential rental properties (retrieved 24 Apr 2026)
Important Disclaimer
This calculator provides general information only and is not intended as tax advice, financial advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any investment property. The results are estimates based on the information you provide and the tax rules applicable to the 2025–26 financial year.
Tax rules and rates are subject to change. The calculations may not account for all factors that apply to your specific situation, including but not limited to: HELP/HECS-HELP repayments, Medicare Levy Surcharge, private health insurance rebate adjustments, foreign income, or trust distributions.
We are not affiliated with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) or any state or territory revenue office. All rates and thresholds are sourced from publicly available government data (see sources below).
Seek professional advice. For advice specific to your financial situation, speak with a registered tax agent, accountant, or licensed financial adviser.
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