Selling Before July 2027? What to Actually Consider

Every time a tax rule has a hard end date, the same question comes up: should I sell before it changes? This article won't answer that for you — nobody can, without knowing your full financial position — but it will explain exactly what the date means, so the question you take to your accountant is a sharp one.

What actually happens on the date, mechanically

1 July 2027 is not a deadline to sell. It is the day the general 50% CGT discount stops applying to post-reset growth on ordinary assets and the indexation and minimum-tax rules begin. For an asset reached by the transition rules, the Act generally deems a sale and reacquisition at market value around that date. Statutory exclusions and any available apportioning-method choice must be checked. A gain up to that point may be deferred rather than taxed at the transition itself, while post-reset growth generally moves to indexation and the possible minimum-tax top-up.

That matters because holding through the transition date does not automatically lose the discount on growth that already happened. A deferred pre-reset gain may retain the discount when the real sale meets the holding-period test.

What a real sale before the date would actually achieve

If you made the sale contract before 1 July 2027, the whole gain (not just the pre-2027 portion) would be assessed under today's rules — including the 50% discount where eligible, with no new minimum-tax top-up or indexation. Whether that produces a better or worse outcome than holding depends entirely on:

• How much of your total expected gain has already happened, versus how much you expect to happen after 1 July 2027. Indexation only affects growth after that date.
• The basic income tax attributable to the defined minimum tax capital gain, not just your highest marginal bracket. The top-up is the amount by which 30% of that gain exceeds the extra basic income tax it adds, subject to statutory exclusions and exemptions.
• Whether selling now creates a tax bill you wouldn't otherwise have, and whether you have the cash to pay it, separate from whatever you do with the proceeds.
• Transaction costs and reinvestment risk — selling and buying back into a similar position (if that's even the plan) has real costs and real market-timing risk that have nothing to do with tax.
• Whether the asset is even one you want to sell, independent of tax. A tax rule changing is not a reason to sell something you'd otherwise keep, and it's not a reason to keep something you'd otherwise sell.

What this article is not

This is general information about what the law does. It is not a recommendation to sell, hold or do anything else with any asset, and nothing on this site will ever tell you to act by a particular date. Anyone who tells you with confidence that selling before 1 July 2027 is "obviously" the right or wrong call, without knowing your income, your other assets, your plans and your actual numbers, is guessing.

Where to actually get an answer

The CGT Calculator 2027 New Rules shows your specific gain under both the current rules and the new rules, using your own cost base and proceeds — that's the numbers half of the question. The judgement half — what to do with those numbers, given everything else about your situation — is what a registered tax agent or financial adviser is for.