From the 1 July 2026 tax cut to the bigger shifts landing in 2027, here is a plain-English rundown of what is changing and what it means for your money.
You save about $0 this year from the 15% rate.
From 1 July 2026, the second tax bracket — income between $18,201 and $45,000 — dropped from 16% to 15%. Everyone earning $45,000 or more gets the full benefit, worth up to about $268 a year. All other brackets are unchanged. See our full 2026-27 tax cuts guide.
The same bracket is legislated to fall again to 14% from 1 July 2027, roughly doubling the saving compared with the old 16% rate.
From the 2026-27 tax year, employees can claim a flat $1,000 deduction for work-related expenses without keeping receipts. If your real work expenses are higher, you can still claim the actual amount instead — this simply removes the paperwork for smaller claims.
Launching 1 July 2027, this new offset cuts up to $250 off the final tax bill for employees and sole traders — effectively lifting the point at which working Australians start paying net tax.
For assets acquired after 12 May 2026, the flat 50% CGT discount is being replaced from 1 July 2027 with an inflation-indexation method plus a 30% minimum tax rate on gains. Assets bought earlier are grandfathered. This is a significant shift for property and share investors — and one very few calculators yet model.
From 1 July 2027, losses on established investment properties purchased after 12 May 2026 can no longer be offset against your salary — they are quarantined and carried forward against future rental income or the eventual capital gain. New builds are exempt, and properties bought earlier are grandfathered.
Most of these are automatic — the tax cut and instant deduction need no action. The property changes matter most if you are buying an investment after 12 May 2026, where timing and whether you buy new or established now carry tax consequences worth planning around.
Several 2027 measures were announced in the 2026-27 Budget and some are still progressing through Parliament, so treat forward-looking details as the announced position.