The proposed 2027 Australia CGT changes are worth understanding now

Had a proper read of the proposed CGT changes from the Budget and figured we'd break it down as it can be quite confusing.

First, the calming bit: none of it is law yet, and nothing changes for your FY25-26 return. The current 50% discount still applies in full this year. No need to do anything drastic. This year goes ahead as normal.

What's actually proposed, from 1 July 2027:

- The 50% discount goes. Instead your cost base gets indexed for inflation, so you'd only be taxed on the real gain, not the part that's just inflation.

- A 30% minimum rate on net real gains accruing after that date.

- It covers most CGT assets: shares, trust units, investment property, and crypto.

The bit some folks are glossing over is the grandfathering. Gains that accrued before 1 July 2027 keep the current discount treatment, and only growth after that date falls under the new rules. So the value of what you hold around the changeover becomes a genuinely important number.

And the practical kicker is that indexation is worked out parcel by parcel, from each parcel's acquisition date and cost base. If your buy history is scattered across brokers, DRP statements and old exchange CSVs, this gets expensive fast, because you can't index a cost base you can't prove. Same for crypto, every parcel indexes from its own date.

So until these changes are implemented, get your cost base records complete for everything you hold while the history's still retrievable, lodge this year normally, and see what the legislation actually looks like when it firms up (plenty can change on the way through).

Genuinely curious what people make of the indexation switch.