Technical Resource Centre
July 2026
Technical resources published in July 2026.
Published in July 2026
Negative gearing from 2027-28: what the Act actually does
The residential-property deduction rules in Schedule 2 of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 are enacted law and first apply to the 2027-28 income year. This resource sets out what the quarantining rule does, the precise grandfathering test, the carve-outs, and the one exception that cannot yet operate because its defining instrument has not been made.
Verified 13 July 202611 min read
SMSF borrowing and business real property: what Schedule 5 changed
Schedule 5 of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 narrows what an SMSF can borrow to acquire. From 10 August 2026, where the asset is real property, it must be business real property — but only for arrangements entered into on or after that date, and nothing in the Schedule requires an existing arrangement to be unwound.
Verified 13 July 20269 min read
The CGT discount changes from 1 July 2027: what the law actually says
Schedule 1 of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 is law and commenced on 1 July 2026, but its substantive changes apply only to CGT events happening on or after 1 July 2027. This resource sets out exactly who keeps a discount, who falls to 0%, and how the replacement cost-base indexation is confined.
Verified 13 July 20269 min read
The standard deduction for work expenses from 2026-27: a floor, not a bonus
New section 25-130 of the ITAA 1997 applies to assessments for 2026-27 — the only measure in the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 that touches the income year now under way. It gives eligible individuals a standard deduction of up to $1,000, reduced dollar for dollar by their listed work-related deductions, and it repeals the $300 and $150 substantiation exceptions.
Verified 13 July 20269 min read
The Working Australians tax offset: law now, claimable from 2027-28
Schedule 3 of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 inserted a new Working Australians tax offset into the income tax law. It commenced on 1 July 2026 but first applies to assessments for the 2027-28 income year — and $250 is its ceiling, not a universal entitlement.
Verified 13 July 20268 min read
ATO interest charges are no longer deductible: GIC and SIC from 1 July 2025
General interest charge and shortfall interest charge incurred on or after 1 July 2025 can no longer be deducted — enacted law, first biting in the 2025-26 returns now being prepared. What changed, the current quarterly rates, and what it means for payment plans and remission requests.
Verified 12 July 20267 min read
Cents per kilometre or logbook? How to claim work-related car expenses
Individuals claiming work-related car expenses choose between the cents per kilometre method and the logbook method. This explainer sets out the current rates, the 5,000-kilometre cap, what a valid logbook looks like, and the records each method requires.
Verified 13 July 20268 min read
CGT records for property investors: what to keep, and for how long
A working checklist of the records the ATO expects property investors to keep for capital gains tax — the documents behind each cost base element, the purchase, ownership and sale files, retention periods, and what happens when records are missing.
Verified 13 July 20269 min read
Division 293 tax explained: the extra 15% on super contributions for higher earners
A plain-English explainer of Division 293 tax — the additional 15% tax on concessional super contributions where combined income and contributions exceed $250,000 — covering who it catches, how the ATO calculates and assesses it, and the payment and release-from-super options.
Verified 12 July 20268 min read
Division 296: the $3 million super tax is now law
A status check on the Division 296 tax on large superannuation balances: it received Royal Assent on 13 March 2026 and applies from the 2026-27 income year, in a redesigned form that taxes realised earnings only, indexes both thresholds and adds a second tier above $10 million.
Verified 12 July 20267 min read
Fixed vs variable home loan rates: a decision framework
A decision framework for choosing between fixed, variable and split home loan structures — the certainty-versus-flexibility trade-off, how break costs work and how the law constrains them, and the questions worth weighing before you commit.
Verified 12 July 20268 min read
GST registration: the $75,000 threshold and the voluntary registration decision
A decision guide to GST registration — the $75,000 and $150,000 thresholds, how the two rolling turnover tests actually work, the special rule for taxi and ride-sourcing providers, what late registration costs, and how to weigh registering voluntarily below the threshold.
Verified 12 July 20267 min read
Home loan documents for PAYG employees: the application checklist
A working checklist of the documents PAYG (salaried) employees typically assemble for a home loan application — identity, income, deposit, liabilities and living expenses — and the responsible lending rules that explain why lenders ask for them.
Verified 12 July 20267 min read
How Airbnb and short-term rental income is taxed in Australia
A plain-English explainer on the tax treatment of Airbnb, Stayz and other short-term rental income — what to declare, how deductions are apportioned, why GST usually stays out of the picture, the CGT cost of hosting in your own home, and the holiday-home deduction rules the ATO will enforce in full for expenses incurred from 1 July 2026.
Verified 13 July 202610 min read
How lenders assess home loan serviceability
How Australian lenders decide how much you can borrow — the APRA serviceability buffer, income shading, living-expense benchmarks, credit limits and HELP debt, plus the debt-to-income limits that took effect in February 2026.
Verified 12 July 20269 min read
How to check that your tax agent is registered with the TPB
A plain-English walkthrough of the Tax Practitioners Board’s public register: how to search it, how to read an entry, what registration does and does not tell you, and why an unregistered preparer shifts risk onto you.
Verified 12 July 20266 min read
Individual income tax rates for 2026-27: what changed on 1 July
The enacted resident tax rates for 2026-27 — the legislated cut of the 16% rate to 15%, what did not move, how the Medicare levy and offsets sit alongside the table, and the other 2026 measures that touch this income year.
Verified 12 July 20265 min read
Instant asset write-off for 2026-27: what is law and what is only announced
A status check on the instant asset write-off threshold: the enacted $20,000 write-off ended with assets first used or installed ready for use by 30 June 2026, and the permanent $20,000 threshold announced for 2026-27 is still before Parliament as at 12 July 2026.
Verified 12 July 20265 min read
Lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) explained
A plain-English explainer on lenders mortgage insurance — who the policy actually protects, when it typically applies, how the one-off premium can be paid, what happens when you refinance, and the pathways some buyers use to reduce or avoid it.
Verified 12 July 20267 min read
NSW land tax in 2026: frozen thresholds, current rates and what changed
The settings for the 2026 NSW land tax year — the frozen $1,075,000 general and $6,571,000 premium thresholds, current rates, the 25% minimum ownership rule for the home exemption now fully in force, trust treatment and the 5% foreign owner surcharge.
Verified 12 July 20265 min read
Repairs vs capital improvements: how rental property work is taxed
Where the tax line falls between immediately deductible repairs, capital improvements and depreciating assets on a residential rental — the TR 97/23 boundary test, the initial-repairs trap, Division 43 rates and the second-hand asset restriction.
Verified 13 July 202610 min read
STP finalisation for 2025-26: the employer checklist
A working checklist for finalising Single Touch Payroll for the 2025-26 financial year — what to check before you declare, the different deadlines for closely held payees, and how corrections work after finalisation.
Verified 12 July 20266 min read
Super guarantee 2026-27: the rate, Payday Super and every employer date
A technical update on employer super for 2026-27 — the 12% super guarantee rate, the commencement of Payday Super on 1 July 2026, the new 7-business-day payment deadline, the transitional 28 July 2026 quarterly deadline, and the redesigned super guarantee charge.
Verified 12 July 20266 min read
Superannuation contribution caps for 2026-27: what changed on 1 July 2026
Every superannuation cap and threshold that moved on 1 July 2026 — the $32,500 concessional and $130,000 non-concessional caps, the new bring-forward tiers, the $2.1 million transfer balance cap and the first income year in which Division 296 tax applies — verified against ATO guidance.
Verified 12 July 20266 min read
The mortgage broker best interests duty: what it actually requires
A technical guide to the statutory best interests duty for mortgage brokers — where it comes from, what ASIC’s RG 273 expects a broker to do, the conflict priority rule, the ban on conflicted remuneration, and the complaints path if you think the duty was not met.
Verified 12 July 20269 min read
The six-year rule: treating a former home as your main residence for CGT
How the absence choice in section 118-145 lets you keep treating a former home as your CGT-exempt main residence — the six-year limit while it earns rent, how the clock resets, the partial exemption past the limit, and the foreign resident restriction.
Verified 13 July 202610 min read
The SMSF compliance calendar for 2026-27
A trustee-facing calendar of the SMSF compliance year — when the 2026 annual return falls due depending on how the fund lodges, when the auditor must be appointed, which quarters need a TBAR, and what has to be done before 30 June 2027.
Verified 13 July 20269 min read
The transfer balance cap: how it works in 2026-27
A plain-English explainer of the superannuation transfer balance cap — the $2.1 million general cap for 2026-27, why your personal cap may be lower, how the transfer balance account tracks credits and debits, and what happens if you exceed your cap.
Verified 12 July 20267 min read
What a comparison rate actually tells you (and what it doesn’t)
A plain-English explainer on the comparison rate — the legislated single-figure cost measure a credit advertisement must generally carry whenever it states an interest rate. What goes into it, what it excludes by law, why it is calculated on a standardised example, and how to use it without being misled.
Verified 12 July 20267 min read