Why Your 30 June 2027 Property Valuation Matters (Even If You're Not Selling)
The 2027 tax reform treats every property as sold and rebought on 30 June 2027. Nothing is taxed at that point, but the value used that day can decide how much CGT you pay when you eventually do sell.
Most of what's written about the 2027 tax reform focuses on the moment you sell. There's a quieter deadline that matters just as much, and it lands whether or not you have any plans to sell: 30 June 2027. (For the full picture of what changes and when, start with our 2027 reform guide.)
The deemed sale nobody has to act on
Under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026, every CGT asset an individual holds on 30 June 2027 is treated as if it were sold just before that date and bought back on 1 July 2027. You don't do anything to trigger this, and you don't pay tax because of it — the resulting notional gain or loss is disregarded and deferred until the property is actually sold, which might be next year or might be 2045.
What the deemed sale does is split your eventual gain into two pieces. Growth up to 30 June 2027 gets worked out under today's rules, discount included. Growth from 1 July 2027 onward gets worked out under the new indexed system. The number that separates one piece from the other is the property's value on that date, which is why it matters regardless of when you actually sell.
Market value is the default, not something you earn
A lot of commentary on this reform describes the alternative to a market valuation as something you can opt into for a better outcome. That's backwards. The Act sets market value just before 1 July 2027 as the default way of working out the deemed sale proceeds. There's a provision allowing the Minister to determine an alternative apportioning method instead, but as of this writing no such method has been made, and the Act only says the Minister may make one, not that they will.
If no apportioning method ever exists, market value is the only route to your deemed proceeds. Without a valuation, you don't get a worse option; you lose access to the default entirely, and you're left reconstructing a 30 June 2027 value from whatever evidence you can find, years after the fact.
You don't have to decide anything yet
Here's the part that surprises people: even though the valuation date is fixed, the choice about how it feeds into your final CGT calculation isn't due for years. Legally, you don't have to make that election until the tax return for the income year you actually realise the gain — sell, that is. Buy a property in 2015 and hold it until 2040, and the choice waits until the 2040 return.
That's good news for anyone worried about a paperwork deadline in 2027. It's not a reason to skip the valuation itself. The date the valuation has to capture, 30 June 2027, doesn't move regardless of when you make the election, and it's the one part of this whole process you can't go back and redo later.
Why pre-1985 property makes this more urgent, not less
If you've held a property since before 20 September 1985, it currently sits completely outside CGT. That exemption has a use-by date now. The property is deemed sold at its 30 June 2027 market value and reacquired the next day, the first element of its cost base resets, and it stops being a pre-CGT asset. Growth up to 30 June 2027 stays exempt permanently. Growth from that point on is taxable, on a cost base that starts from whatever the property is worth that day.
For a property that's appreciated for four decades under an exemption, the valuation at that single date is the difference between decades of tax-free growth and the taxable base for everything that comes after. It's worth more care than a rough estimate, and it's worth doing well before June 2027 arrives, not in the weeks around it when every valuer in the country is fielding the same request.
What to actually do
- Talk to your accountant about getting a formal valuation for any property you've held a long time, timed as close to 30 June 2027 as you can manage.
- Don't wait for the apportioning method to be announced before booking one. If it's never made, market value is your only option, and if it is made, you'll likely still want a valuation to compare against it.
- Keep the valuation, and whatever it's based on (a written appraisal, comparable sales, a formal report), with the rest of your property records. It's evidence you'll need to produce potentially decades from now.
BrickTrack keeps your property's purchase details, improvements, and documents in one place per property, so whatever valuation you get sits alongside the rest of the record rather than in a folder you have to remember exists.
Common questions
Do I have to get a valuation at 30 June 2027?
Nothing forces you to, and no deadline lands on that date. But market value just before 1 July 2027 is the Act's default way of working out the deemed sale proceeds, and without a valuation you're reconstructing that figure years later from whatever evidence you can still find.
Do I pay tax because of the deemed sale?
No. The notional gain or loss from the 30 June 2027 deemed sale is disregarded and deferred until the property is actually sold, which might be next year or might be 2045.
When do I have to choose how the value is worked out?
Not until the tax return for the income year you actually realise the gain. Buy in 2015, hold until 2040, and the choice waits for the 2040 return.
What if I've owned the property since before 1985?
The exemption stops applying going forward. The property is deemed sold at its 30 June 2027 market value and reacquired the next day, its cost base resets, and it stops being a pre-CGT asset. Growth up to 30 June 2027 stays exempt permanently; growth after that is taxable, which makes the valuation at that single date worth real care.
This article is general information about legislation, not tax advice. The apportioning method under s 112-185 had not been made as of this writing and may never be. Confirm your approach to the 30 June 2027 valuation with a registered tax agent or valuer.