Property Development for Builders: How Three Major Tax Reforms Are Changing the Landscape

The way you structure your next development is now a different decision to the one you made on the last one. Three tax reforms are changing how builder-developers hold sites, fund projects and take profit out.

From 1 July 2027 the 50% CGT discount ends, replaced by cost base indexation and a 30% minimum tax on the real gain. Negative gearing on residential property is restricted, with new builds treated differently. Both are law. A separate 30% minimum tax on discretionary trust distributions has been announced but is not legislated, and would not start until 1 July 2028.

The changes still start on 1 July 2027, which leaves this financial year to plan. Some of the decisions that matter most are being made now. A site bought this year will still be held at the reset date. A sale you are already weighing has a deadline attached. Feasibilities being modelled today are for projects delivering into a changed market.

In the session we worked through all three using real development scenarios, and separated what is legislated from what is still being consulted on.

What we covered

• Which sites the 1 July 2027 changeover actually touches, and what the draft rules require before then
• Trading stock or capital asset, and why that decides whether CGT is even the question
• What counts as a new dwelling, and why that shapes what you build
• Develop and sell against develop and hold under the new settings
• Whether your exit fits the small business CGT concessions at the $10 million threshold
• How to hold the next site while the trust measure is still a proposal

Who it is for

Builders, trade contractors and construction business owners who hold property, whether that is a development site, an investment or the premises your business operates from. If a structure, a sale or a new project is on the table in the next two years, the changes affect the decision.

Book a complimentary consultation to work through your structure, your holdings and your timing before the changes start.

Book a complimentary consultation

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