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What is a Capital Gain/Loss?
What is a Capital Gain/Loss?

Capital Gain

Peter Bayliss avatar
Written by Peter Bayliss
Updated over a week ago

To put it simply, a capital gain is any profit on the sale of an investment or investment property. On the contrary, a capital loss is any loss on the sale. 

Capital gains can include the sale of a house that isn't your main residence, sale of shares or sales of units in a unit trust. If capital assets are held for longer than 12 months, they are eligible for a 50% discount on the capital gain.

Worked examples of Capital Gains/Losses are below:

  • You purchased  some shares for $300 in 2009 and sold them for $500 in 2016. Capital Gain is Sale of Shares less Cost of Shares:

    Sale of Shares - $500
    Less Cost of Shares - $300
    Capital Gain = $200
    Discounted Capital Gain ($200 x 50%) = $100

  • You purchased a Rental Property for $600,000 in 2013 and sold the property for $500,000 in 2016:

    Sale of the Property: $500,000
    Less Cost of the Property: $600,000
    Capital loss: $100,000

Please note that Personal assets such as your house, motorbikes, boats etc are exempt from Capital Gains Tax.

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