Australians are being forced to give up a 27‑year settlement on capital gains. It’s worth a closer look.
The 2026/27 federal budget proposes replacing the 50% capital gains tax discount — affecting shares, property, and other personal investments. This is a place to read what is actually being proposed, and to put your view forward.
The 50% capital gains tax discount has been part of Australian tax law since 1999, when it replaced the older cost-base indexation method. For long-held assets — shares, investment properties, equity in a small business — it was designed to compensate for inflation, simplify the rules, and encourage longer-term investment over short-term speculation.
The 2026/27 federal budget proposes replacing that discount with cost-base indexation, and adding a new 30% minimum tax rate on capital gains. Both apply from 1 July 2027 to assets held outside the family home and outside superannuation. The stated aim is intergenerational fairness.
Young Australians — and others building wealth outside the property ladder through shares, small business, and other personal investments — are the cohort most directly affected, and also the cohort the reform is said to help. This site exists so the people in the middle of that contradiction can read the detail, see the working, and put a view on the record before the bill is drafted.
Labor ruled out these changes at the last election. The full record is here →
The long version.
Where the discount came from, what the proposed changes actually do, and how the numbers fall across asset classes. Every claim footnoted to its primary source.