The Federal Treasurer, Dr Jim Chalmers, handed down the 2026–27 Federal Budget at 7:30pm (AEST) on 12 May 2026.

Details of the highly anticipated initiatives which are slated to improve housing affordability have emerged.
Major changes proposed are:

• Negative gearing for residential property will be limited to new builds from 1 July 2027, with no change for existing arrangements.
• The 50% CGT discount will be replaced with cost base indexation for all CGT assets (except new homes) from 1 July 2027, with a 30% minimum tax on realised gains also applying from that date.
• A minimum tax rate of 30% will be payable by trustees of discretionary trusts from 1 July 2028.
• Each working Australian taxpayer will receive a $250 Working Australians Tax Offset from the 2027–28 income tax year.
• Australia will transition to a permanent 25% FBT  discount for certain electric vehicles.
• The instant asset write-off threshold of $20,000 for small businesses applying the simplified depreciation rules has been made permanent.
• Companies with turnover of up to $1 billion will be eligible to carry back tax losses for up to two years from 1 July 2026.

These measures are in addition to recent developments, including:

• the temporary reduction of excise and excise-equivalent customs duty rates for most fuel products from 1 April 2026 to 30 June 2026,
• the release of exposure draft legislation introducing a $1,000 instant tax deduction for work-related expenses,
• the release of exposure draft legislation for strengthening the foreign CGT regime under Division 855 of the ITAA 1997, including the transitional CGT discount for certain renewable energy assets, and
• the release of a consultation paper on options to strengthen the annual superannuation performance.

The full Budget papers are available at www.budget.gov.au and the Treasury ministers’ media releases are available at ministers.treasury.gov.au.

Further tax, superannuation and related highlights are set out below.​