When you sell an asset, real estate, shares, luxury items, collector items etc, usually you will make a profit or a loss, this difference is then taxed in your personal tax return, so technically it’s not a separate tax, and this type of tax is not usually withheld from the sale of the asset, so you need to plan in advance and keep any amounts you need to pay for the gain.
However, if you make a capital loss, you are unable to reduce your personal tax, though you are able to reduce any other capital gain in the future so ensure your accountant is keeping track of the loss in your tax return.
Any assets bought after 20 September 1985, are all subject to Capital Gains Tax except for your main residence, your motor vehicle and other personal items.
The time the amount of the Capital Gains Tax is calculated is the day you enter the contract not the day you receive the sale amount, if it is on the same day that you receive the amount of monies as the contract date, then the first time is the contract date.
Capital gains tax is a tax on your worldwide assets, whether in Australia or overseas.
You need to firstly establish the date of acquisition, from that date, you need to keep records of every transaction that can create the capital gain or loss of the sale of the assets. These records may also assist your beneficiaries realise the gain or loss if you unexpectedly die.
If you have held the asset that you have sold for more than 12 months, you are entitled to a 50% discount, which in essence you only pay tax on half the amount and if you are not an Australian resident this rule does not apply to you, therefore foreign and temporary residents are not entitled to these discounts.
We understand that is difficult to collate all the paperwork when you you have a capital gain or capital loss, hence we have devised a list of items to help you reduce your capital gains items that you may have missed, this comprehensive list will assist you in minimising your capital gain, to ensure the correctness of your list of items needed please fill out the form below so we can send you the list of items you will need.
