Capital gains tax in Australia: how much is paid, and who pays it

Individuals reported $40.6 billion in net capital gains in 2023–24. The ATO's Taxation statistics 2023–24 record a net capital gain label of $40,599,125,002 across 1,324,862 returns, up 2.5% from the $39.6 billion of 2022–23 as updated in the same edition¹. Net capital gain is the amount left after capital losses, the CGT discount and small business concessions, so the gross gains were much higher.

The tax attributable to those gains is an estimate, because capital gains tax is not a separate tax: the gain is added to taxable income and taxed at the person's rates. The ATO estimated that tax was payable on gains reported in 1,126,041 returns, totalling $14.1 billion, an average of $12,487 and a median of $238 among those with estimated tax payable on their gains¹. The remaining 198,821 reporters (1,324,862 minus 1,126,041) had no estimated tax on their gains; nearly all were in returns the ATO classes as non-taxable².

How assessments like these net out into refunds or bills is covered in the average tax refund article.

Capital gains were concentrated at the top of the taxable income scale in 2023–24. Individuals with taxable income above $180,000 reported $28.3 billion of the $40.6 billion in net capital gains, and accounted for $11.7 billion of the $14.1 billion in estimated tax³. Reporting a gain was also far more common in this income range: 21.9% of the 997,429 people with taxable income above $180,000 reported one, against 8.0% of individuals overall and 5.3% of those at or below the $18,200 tax-free threshold.

One limitation applies when reading this table: taxable income includes the net capital gain itself, so a person who realises a large gain can move into the top range for that year alone⁴.

Marginal rates for each range are set out in the income tax brackets article.

Capital gains tax is not reported as a separate government revenue line because net capital gains form part of taxable income and are taxed under income tax. Instead, the ATO publishes an estimate of tax attributable to net capital gains. For 2023–24 it estimated $14.06 billion for individuals, $4.37 billion for companies and $5.65 billion for super funds, or $24.1 billion in total⁷. Against the edition's $630.9 billion of total tax liabilities from all sources, the combined estimate is about 3.8%, derived by dividing 24.08 by 630.9. For individuals alone, the estimate equals about 4.3% of the $329.5 billion in individual income tax.

Individuals are not the whole picture. In the 2023–24 CGT schedules, super funds reported $42.4 billion of net capital gains, more than individuals' $40.6 billion, with companies at $18.6 billion⁵. The estimated tax ranks differently because the entities face different rates: complying super funds discount eligible gains by one third and generally pay 15% on accumulation-phase earnings⁸.

From 1 July 2027, the 50% CGT discount for individuals, trusts and partnerships will be replaced with CPI-based cost base indexation, alongside a 30% minimum tax rate on real capital gains accruing after that date.⁶

Announced in the 2026–27 Budget on 12 May 2026, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 received assent on 26 June 2026 and is in force, with Schedule 1 carrying the CGT adjustments and the minimum rate. The companion Income Tax Rates Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 received assent the same day¹⁰.

CPI indexation of cost bases previously applied between 1985 and 1999, before the 50% discount replaced it. Under the new rules, only the gain above inflation is taxed in full, whereas the discount taxed half the nominal gain regardless of inflation. Whether a person pays more or less than under the discount depends on their returns, the inflation rate over the holding period and their marginal rate. Budget examples show a low-return investor paying less under indexation and a high-return investor paying more.

For existing holdings, the discount still applies to the gain accrued to 1 July 2027, valued at that date, with indexation and the minimum tax applying beyond it. The main residence exemption and the small business CGT concessions are unchanged, and recipients of means-tested income support are exempt from the minimum tax in a year in which they receive a payment⁶.

Individuals' reported net capital gains have varied sharply over time. The ATO's long-run table starts the net capital gain series at $103 million in 1986–87, the first full year after CGT began. Net capital gains passed $6 billion by 1998–99, $27 billion in 2006–07, and peaked at $55.1 billion in 2021–22. They then fell to $39.6 billion in 2022–23 before rising slightly to $40.6 billion in 2023–24.¹ Reported gains more than halved in 2008–09, falling 54% from the previous year, and fell 28% from the 2021–22 peak to 2022–23.

The number of people reporting gains has also moved with the total value of gains. Reporters climbed from 885,543 in 2019–20 to 1,494,888 in 2021–22, eased to 1,172,068 in 2022–23 and stood at 1,324,862 in 2023–24, all within a return population that grew steadily¹. Statistics for years under the new indexation rules do not yet exist: the first income year they can affect is 2027–28.