Tax PlanningWealth Strategy

Whose Name Is It In? Checking How You Hold Investments After the Budget Changes

5 November 2026

A man and woman at a round kitchen table, one pointing to a page in an open folder of papers, mugs of tea beside them

Investment ownership

The Budget changes to capital gains tax, negative gearing and discretionary trusts are part law and part still before Parliament. Before the tax detail, it helps to know who owns each investment, in what form, and which plans depend on it.

1. At a Glance

Law, with rules from 1 July 2027.The capital gains and negative gearing changes passed in June 2026. Properties held at 12 May 2026 keep the old negative gearing treatment.

Each share counts.A buyout after 12 May 2026 can change how the share that moves is taxed. Relief for qualifying transfers on death or separation is now law, with conditions.

Part is still before Parliament.The trust minimum tax and a new-build definition are not law yet. Timing is a question for your accountant.

You might own an investment property with your partner, hold shares in one name, or have a family trust that was set up years ago on your accountant’s advice. The capital gains tax, negative gearing and trust changes from the 12 May 2026 Budget make your investment ownership structure worth another look, including who else is affected if it changes.

Start with what each investment needs to do for you and the people who depend on it. Then consider whether the way it is held still supports that plan.

2. What Has Been Decided, and When It Starts

The first stage received Royal Assent on 26 June 2026. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) says these measures are now law, and that they apply from 1 July 2027:

1
Capital gains. For individuals, trusts and partnerships, the 50% discount is generally replaced by cost base indexation plus a 30% minimum tax on gains that accrue after 1 July 2027, with exemptions, including for Age Pension recipients.
2
Negative gearing. Net rental losses on residential property won’t reduce tax on salary or other income unless an exception applies, such as a new build. Properties held at 7.30pm Australian Eastern Standard Time on 12 May 2026, Budget night, keep the old treatment, known as grandfathering.

The Budget explainer says your main residence will continue to be exempt from capital gains tax.

A second Act, Tax Reform No. 2, passed in August 2026. It protects the old negative gearing treatment for qualifying transfers on death and separation from the 2027-28 income year.

The rest is before Parliament: two bills introduced on 14 October 2026 carry a 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts from 1 July 2028 and a new-build definition. A Senate committee is due to report on them on 13 November 2026.

3. Why Who Holds the Asset Matters

Grandfathering attaches to each ownership interest, not to the property or the household. The Explanatory Memorandum explains that a joint tenancy is treated as if each owner held a separate share. If one of two joint owners stops having an interest after the cut-off, for example through a buyout, the owner who remains is treated as acquiring a new interest in that share. Under the law as passed, that share is caught by the negative gearing limit, while their original share keeps its treatment.

The cut-off has already passed, so a buyout made today creates that new interest, even though the limit itself starts on 1 July 2027.

That matters in several situations:

1
Death. Under Tax Reform No. 2, a surviving spouse who takes over the deceased’s share keeps its old treatment if the deceased held it before the cut-off. Another surviving co-owner keeps it only if both held their shares before the cut-off.
2
Separation. A share transferred from a spouse or former spouse under a court order, financial agreement or similar arrangement on relationship breakdown keeps the transferor’s treatment.
3
Other transfers during life. The relief stops there. A gift to a partner, a move into a trust or company and a transfer to an adult child are all questions for your accountant before anything is signed.
4
A discretionary family trust. If the trust tax becomes law, the trustee could keep the arrangement, make a proposed one-off election that fixes how income is shared among nominated beneficiaries, or restructure with proposed roll-over relief to 30 June 2030. Which suits depends on the final legislation and advice.

4. What Is Still Unsettled

1
What counts as a new build. The Tax Reform No. 3 Bill would write the definition into the Act. As introduced, a dwelling can be new for a buyer who acquires it within 24 months after its certificate of occupancy is first issued, if that was after Budget night.
2
How gains before and after 1 July 2027 are split. The method for apportioning gains on property has not been finalised.

Worth knowing:

In the Bill, New-Build Status Belongs to the Owner, Not the Building.

A street of older brick and weatherboard houses with power poles, bins out on the footpath and cars parked along the kerb

A dwelling that is new for one owner is not automatically new for the next, including an adult child who buys it later. If a new build is part of a family plan, check it against the final definition.

5. What to Settle First

You can take this in stages and keep options open while the bills settle. An order that helps:

1
List who owns what. Each asset, whose name it is in, the form (joint, separate shares, trust, company or super) and the contract date.
2
Link each asset to the plans that depend on it, such as retirement income, helping a child or your wishes on death.
3
Work with your financial adviser to test what a change would mean for your retirement income, cash flow and family commitments.
4
Take the tax questions to your accountant.
5
Bring in your broker if lending is involved, to explore the available options and their costs.
6
Involve the people affected, including co-owners, adult children and your estate lawyer if wills need to change.

Illustrative scenario:

Testing a Transfer Before Anyone Signs

A couple and their adult daughter talking at an outdoor table on the back deck of a weatherboard house

Nadia and Chris are fictional, and this example is for illustration only. They are married and own an investment unit as joint tenants, bought in 2019, which runs at a small loss. Chris holds shares in his own name, and an older discretionary family trust holds more shares, with their adult daughter Ella among the beneficiaries. They hope to help Ella buy a home in a few years.

After the Budget, Chris wondered about moving the unit into the trust. Nadia asked what would happen to it if one of them passed away.

Their Ryker financial adviser started with what each asset is for: the unit funds part of their retirement, and Chris’s shares are set aside for Ella’s deposit. The adviser then tested the trust idea against those plans and their wills.

Their accountant was given a short list: the tax result of moving the unit against keeping it, whether a valuation near 1 July 2027 is worth getting, when a share sale for Ella would best happen, and what the trust tax could mean for the trust. Their broker can explore lending options, and their costs, if a restructure or help for Ella needs finance.

On Nadia’s question, the accountant was asked to confirm how the surviving spouse provisions apply to the unit, since both bought it before the cut-off. Ryker reviewed what a death would mean for the unit’s cash flow, alongside their insurance and estate arrangements.

They left with agreed priorities and a staged plan. Nothing moves into the trust until the accountant has advised. The share sale for Ella stays in the plan, timed on the accountant’s advice. The trust question comes back once the final law is known.

6. Questions to Take to Your Financial Adviser and Accountant

If one of us passed away or we separated, how would each investment be treated, and do the surviving spouse and separation provisions apply to us?

Would the ownership change we’re considering affect the negative gearing or capital gains treatment of that asset?

If the trust minimum tax becomes law, what would keeping our trust, making the election or restructuring involve?

Investments held with others

7. Talk Through Who Holds What Before Anything Moves

If you hold investments with a partner, with family or through a trust, a Ryker financial adviser can work through each one with you, including how it fits your estate plans and cash flow if circumstances change. We work alongside your accountant on the tax answers and your broker on any lending, and can show which decisions need attention now and which can wait.

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