One date sets the tax base for every asset bought before it
Under the 2026 Federal Budget, capital gains tax is being reshaped around a single date. For any property bought before 1 July 2027 and sold after it, the value as at that date has to be fixed, either by a valuation or by an Australian Taxation Office approximation. That value splits what is taxed from what is not. The higher and more defensible the value, the better the client's position, permanently. So the number set on one day, on each building, decides the tax for good.
These are announced measures, subject to the enabling legislation. The tax position is confirmed by the client's accountant. We provide the property work and the valuation pathway beneath that advice.
A rushed valuation on a tired asset is locked in forever
The default path is the worst path. A client who waits until close to the date is choosing from whichever valuer is still free, under time pressure, on a building that presents poorly and earns below its potential. That produces a thin as is number, and it cannot be revisited. The Australian Taxation Office formula is a blunt alternative that captures none of the asset's real potential.
Leaving it to chance
- The good valuers are booked out as the date approaches
- A quick drive by valuation captures only what the building obviously earns today
- Below market rents and latent potential are never argued, so the value is low
- The low number is fixed as the tax base for good, with no second chance
Moving early with us
- An independent valuer already inside our ecosystem, engaged ahead of the queue
- A clear pathway to a higher valuation, identified building by building at Stage 1
- Our builders and fitout teams ready to deliver it: lobbies, common areas and bathrooms
- Higher and better uses introduced, such as medical and allied health, for stickier income
- Rent reversion and lease review argued and evidenced for the valuer
- A higher, defensible value fixed on the date, supporting the client for good
We unlock the higher value, and bring the trades to deliver it
Moving early with us is not only about beating the valuer queue. The value on the date is not a passive measurement, it is something that can be lifted, legitimately, before it is fixed. At Stage 1 we identify the pathway on each building: the rent reversion, the upgrade scope allowed within the rules, and the higher and better use. Then we bring the people to deliver it. Our builders and fitout teams upgrade the lobbies, common areas and bathrooms and lift the presentation, and where it fits we introduce a higher and better use such as medical or allied health, which brings income that is both higher and far stickier. The independent valuer then values the asset for what it has become. That is the difference between a number the client regrets and a number that works for them.
An owner on their own cannot assemble a valuer, a delivery team and a repositioning strategy and execute it before the date. The curated ecosystem is exactly that, ready to move. It is the heart of what we offer.
Which describes your client?
The deadline lands on every owner. The detail differs by who they are and what they hold, but the move is the same: value early, value well.
Pre 1985 owners
Whole residential blocks, and strip shops with flats above, held in the family for decades. The value on the date becomes the permanent cost base, and the gains built up over forty years stay exempt. The sharpest case of all.
See the pre 1985 case →Post 1985 owners
The much larger group. The value on the date splits their gain between the current rules and the new regime, so a strong valuation is worth real money to them too. Many more of these clients, the same time critical crunch.
See the post 1985 case →Strip shops
The classic family holding, retail at street level with homes above on one title. Three value levers at once: lift the income, improve the mix, and unlock shop top housing potential. Often the biggest uplift of all.
See the strip shop case →Two stages, and a fee tied to the result
CASE?
rises
We do not provide tax, legal or financial product advice and do not hold an AFSL. The valuer remains independent and the value must stand on its own to the Australian Taxation Office. We take no fees from the professionals we introduce. Beyond the Stage 1 fee, our reward is a success fee tied only to the increase in value an independent valuer confirms.
Have someone in mind? Test the fit in one line.
Email the suburb and the year they bought, nothing more. We will tell you whether they are affected and roughly what is at stake. No paperwork, no commitment, and you remain their lead adviser throughout.
Repositioning we have delivered
These are completed projects from our delivery team, the same capability behind the panel. They show the repositioning that turns a tired asset into a higher, defensible value.
Bayswater Terraces, Kings Cross
Four heritage terraces bought after a failed campaign and hit by the 2014 lockout laws. Taken from a night time to a day time economy and refurbished from the roof down, with the failed nightclub converted to a gym. Office income doubled, and concept plans to return the terraces to residential widened the buyer pool and drove an outstanding sale.
Bolton Street, Newcastle
A Government leased office holding with a poorly presenting neighbour. Rather than chase new tenants, we used the family court's need to expand, breaking through into the vacant floor. The two year negotiation ended in matching new 15 year leases across both buildings, plus renewals of the multinational tenant and Legal Aid, and a successful sale.
Projects delivered by our delivery partner, shown to illustrate capability. Outcomes depend on each asset and are not a forecast of any particular result.
Paid one way, on the result
Our reward is tied to the outcome, not the activity. There is a fixed fee for the Stage 1 review, and beyond that we are paid only if your client's value actually rises, as a small share of the increase confirmed by an independent valuer, the same valuation lodged with the ATO as the new, higher base. If the value does not rise, we are not rewarded.
Kopping Capital provides property strategy advice only. It does not provide tax, legal or financial product advice and does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence. The independent valuer's figure must stand on its own to the Australian Taxation Office.
Who you are referring to
Lawrence's background covers property fund management, compliance, real estate analysis and commercial property across multiple asset classes. Kopping Capital provides property strategy advisory only, built to work alongside the client's existing professional team.
The question that finds them
- Do they hold property bought before 1 July 2027 that they may one day sell?
- Is it under rented, tired, or never properly improved?
- Would a low valuation on one date cost them for good?
Why an adviser refers
- The valuation date is a hard tax event you can flag and they will thank you for
- Early action protects the client and protects you
- You remain their lead adviser throughout, with nothing to deliver yourself
Kopping Capital is a registered business name of Newkay Investments Pty Limited, ABN 37 120 023 636, Sydney, NSW 2030. Property strategy advice only; not tax, legal or financial product advice; no Australian Financial Services Licence.