What the CGT reform does to private company shareholders.
Twenty-four scenarios for founders, families, employees and investors. Change any input, add a cost base where it appears, or change a concession's eligibility, and each route recalculates.
Figures are illustrative only and not tax advice. Read the assumptions and caveats below the calculator.
Bootstrapped founder: IBCC plus active asset reduction
A bootstrapped software company, incorporated 2028 and registered for the IBCC, with $6m turnover and a value of about $12m. A 25% founder sells for cash in 2033. The company fails the $2m turnover and $6m net asset tests, so the retirement exemption is not available. The active asset reduction depends on the $10m threshold reaching the company whose shares are sold.
Inputs
Tax on each route
Difference between the first two routes: $352,500
Indexation route
| Gain | $3,000,000 |
| After indexation | $3,000,000 |
| After 50% active asset reduction | $1,500,000 |
| Effective rate | 23.5% |
| Tax | $705,000 |
IBCC route
| After 50% IBCC discount | $1,500,000 |
| After 50% active asset reduction | $750,000 |
| Effective rate | 11.8% |
| Tax | $352,500 |
What decides it
Whether the $10m threshold reaches the company in a share sale (the object-company test); the founder staying at 20% or more; IBCC registration. The retirement exemption needs the company under $2m turnover or within the $6m net asset test.
Assumptions and caveats
Status of the law (as at 13 November 2026)
- The core reform is enacted: the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 replaces the 50% discount with indexation for gains accruing from 1 July 2027, adds the 30% minimum tax and deems assets held at 30 June 2027 sold and reacquired.
- The Innovative Business CGT Concession (IBCC) is proposed in the Tax Reform No. 4 Bill (introduced 27 October 2026) and is not law. The discretionary trust minimum tax and the AMIT, part-year resident and estate rules are proposed in Tax Reform No. 3 (trust tax from 1 July 2028).
- The apportioning formula is an unregistered draft determination. It covers real property and assets without a readily ascertainable market value; listed shares, and assets whose cost base is already set by market value under another provision, are excluded.
- Only new residential dwellings keep the 50% discount under the enacted Act (supplementary explanatory memorandum, para 1.8).
Small business concessions
- The $10m turnover threshold applies only to the 50% active asset reduction. The 15-year exemption, retirement exemption and rollover keep the $2m turnover test or the $6m net asset test (supplementary EM, para 1.21).
- On a share sale the company itself must also be small: a CGT small business entity or within the $6m net asset test, counting connected entities at a 20% threshold (s 152-10(2)). The EM does not say whether the $10m deeming reaches that object-company test. Examples 1 and 4 assume it does and are marked as conditional readings.
- A significant individual holds a 20% participation percentage, measured as the lowest of voting, dividend and capital rights, directly and indirectly. A spouse who is a significant individual can also make someone a CGT concession stakeholder. The examples use simple cap-table percentages.
- The retirement exemption is a $500,000 lifetime cap per person, assumed unused unless you change it above; under 55, the exempt amount must go into super.
- Stacking the IBCC with the active asset reduction relies on the Tax Reform No. 4 explanatory memorandum, which leaves Division 152 unchanged; the bill text should be confirmed.
Method and simplifications
- Indexation uses a flat CPI rate compounded annually, including part years. The statutory method uses actual CPI figures and dates.
- Individuals are taxed at the top marginal rate including the Medicare levy, except in example 20. Companies pay 30% and franking credits are assumed fully usable. Time value, stamp duty, fees and other costs are ignored.
- Founder and employee shares have a nil cost base unless you tick "Add a cost base". The cost base is treated as the first element only; reduced cost base adjustments, further subscriptions and capital returns are not modelled.
- Losses: a loss up to 30 June 2027 or after 1 July 2027 offsets the other part of the same asset's gain, and any excess is shown as a capital loss carried forward. Indexation never creates or increases a loss.
- "Not assessed" appears where a concession's eligibility is set to unknown. A result marked "Hypothetical" shows an outcome the law does not allow, for comparison.
- Example 24 rests on two readings that no source confirms: that an ESIC-exempt gain stays outside the minimum tax, and that the IBCC applies to growth after the ESIC 10-year reset.
Sources
- ATO: Capital gains tax reform
- Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026, Supplementary Explanatory Memorandum (Senate amendments)
- Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 4) Bill 2026 and explanatory memorandum
- Treasury: explanatory statement for the draft apportioning method
- ATO: extra conditions for shares and trust interests
- Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 3) Bill 2026
General information only, not tax advice. Measures may change as legislation progresses.
See what the changes mean for your shares.
Work through 24 real-world scenarios and compare the tax on each route, before and after the reform.