Two Changes
The 2026–27 Federal Budget announced two changes that matter to almost every private business owner and family group in Australia. From 1 July 2027, the 50% capital gains tax (CGT) discount is replaced — for most taxable CGT assets held by individuals, trusts and partnerships — with CPI cost base indexation and a 30% minimum tax. From 1 July 2028, a separate 30% minimum tax applies to the income of discretionary trusts.
Neither measure is yet law, and the detail can still change. The intended start dates are 1 July 2027 for the CGT changes and 1 July 2028 for the trust minimum tax, and the planning window is short. This three-part guide explains what is changing, works through the numbers, and sets out what to review — in plain English, for business owners rather than tax specialists.
Which article should I read?
Read Part 1, which explains how the new rules work.
Read Part 2, which works the numbers and the decision.
Read Part 3, which covers the 2028 trust minimum tax.
Part 1
Part 1 explains the new regime: what is subject to CGT, how a gain is taxed, the transitional split for assets held across 1 July 2027, cost base indexation, the 30% minimum tax, the two valuation methods, and how the change affects super, non-residents and company gains. Start here if you want to understand how the new rules work.
Should You Sell Before 1 July 2027? CGT Examples
Part 2 puts numbers on the decision. Using one property throughout, it isolates the cost of the tax change, shows what a careless 1 July 2027 valuation costs — about $74,000 in one worked example — explains when the 30% minimum tax applies, and works a pre-1985 asset and a business sale. Read this if you are deciding whether to sell.
Part 3
Part 3 covers the separate 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts from 1 July 2028, with a worked example of a capital gain flowing through a family trust, the bucket-company impact, the three-year restructure rollover, and the small business CGT concessions. Read this if your business or investments are held through a family trust.
What every reader should take away
The reform is not retrospective, and indexation makes the extra tax on holding smaller than the headlines suggest.
The right answer — sell or hold — depends on the asset, the owner and the structure, and on non-tax factors as much as tax.
A defensible 1 July 2027 valuation of property and business assets directly affects the future tax.
The 2028 trust measure undermines income splitting; the three-year rollover gives a window to restructure if needed.
Request a CGT and structure review
Book a CGT transition review with Westcourt. We model the old-rule outcome, the post-2027 transitional split, valuation sensitivity, trust distribution impact, bucket-company exposure, and restructure cost and duty risk — before you sell or restructure.
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