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Real Estate Insight

Capital gains tax

The 30% minimum tax on capital gains: will you pay a top-up?

It isn't a flat 30% tax, and it doesn't touch most people. It's a floor on the tax on capital gains made after 1 July 2027, and it only bites when your income that year is low. Enter yours to see.

By the Real Estate Insight team · Last reviewed 4 October 2026 · How we check our numbers

$

Salary, pension, interest, rent and so on, before the gain.

$

After indexing your cost for inflation. The capital gains tax calculator works this out.

$

Half of the growth up to 30 June 2027. It's never subject to the minimum tax, but it pushes your income up.

2028-29 tax year

A top-up of $800.

Normal tax on the $50,000 gain, including the Medicare levy: $15,775. Total $16,575, or 33.2% of the gain.

Top-up by income and gain, 2028-29

For gains made after 1 July 2027, with no deferred gain and no income support.

Other income$10k gain$50k gain$100k gain$250k gain
$0 $3,000$9,748$9,748–
$20,000 $1,599$4,000$4,000–
$45,000 ––––
$80,000 ––––
$135,000 ––––

About this estimate. General information, not tax advice. Resident individuals, the latest legislated tax rates for the year you pick, private hospital cover assumed. The top-up compares 30% of the gain with the basic tax on it (before offsets and the Medicare levy), as Division 119 sets out. Real Estate Insight is not a registered tax agent.

How the top-up works

From 1 July 2027, a capital gain made after that date (after your cost is indexed for inflation) has to be taxed at 30% or more. The tax office works out the basic income tax on that slice of your income, stacked on top of everything else you earned that year. If it comes to less than 30% of the gain, you pay the difference as a top-up.

Because the tax rate is 30% from $45,001 of income, the top-up only appears when part of the gain falls into the tax-free threshold or the 14% bracket. If your other income is already above $45,000, the whole gain is taxed at 30% or more and the minimum tax changes nothing.

Two examples

Treasury's example. Jack earns $25,000 and makes a $10,000 gain in 2029-30. His basic tax on the gain is $1,400, 14%. The minimum is $3,000, so he pays a $1,600 top-up. The calculator reproduces this exactly.

An early retiree. Someone with $30,000 of other income sells an investment property with a $100,000 gain made after July 2027. The top-up is $2,400, on top of about $30,700 of normal tax and Medicare, about 33% of the gain in all. On an income support payment that year, there'd be no top-up.

What's never caught

  • Growth up to 30 June 2027. That part keeps the 50% discount and is excluded from the minimum tax, even when you sell years later.
  • Your salary and other income. The floor only applies to the post-2027 gain.
  • Anyone who receives an income support payment in the year of the sale.

Questions people ask

Does the 30% minimum tax apply to all my capital gains?
No. Only to gains made after 1 July 2027, after your cost has been indexed for inflation. The part of a gain made before July 2027 (which keeps the 50% discount) is never subject to it.
If I earn $45,000, do I pay 30% on my whole income?
No. The minimum tax only looks at the post-2027 capital gain. Your salary is taxed as normal. And once your other income is above $45,000, every extra dollar of gain is already taxed at 30% or more, so there's no top-up at all.
Who actually pays the top-up?
People whose income in the year they sell is low enough that part of the gain would be taxed below 30%: mostly early retirees, people between jobs, students and anyone timing a sale for a low-income year.
Is the Medicare levy part of the 30%?
No. The top-up compares 30% of the gain with the basic tax on it, before offsets and the Medicare levy. The Medicare levy is payable on top, as normal.
Are pensioners exempt?
Anyone who receives an income support payment in the year the gain is made is exempt, such as the Age Pension, JobSeeker or the Disability Support Pension.
Does it apply to super funds, companies or trusts?
It applies to individuals, including gains that flow to them through partnerships and trusts. Companies and super funds have their own tax rates and aren't affected.

Sources