Capital gains and the tax-time pack

When you sell part of a holding bought at different times, the purchases the sale used decide the gain. Each portfolio has a method, set in Settings under Capital gains tax:

• Oldest first: The shares you bought first are counted as sold first. What the ATO uses when the shares sold can't be identified.
• Newest first: The shares you bought most recently are counted as sold first.
• Lowest tax: Each sale uses the purchases that give the smallest capital gain after the CGT discount: losses first, then the smallest gains.
• I choose each time: You pick the purchases each sale used, on the investment's page. Anything you don't choose is counted oldest first.

A new method starts on a 1 July, so a year you may already have lodged doesn't change. Use the method your records support. Each purchase you still hold is listed on the investment's page, oldest first.

The discount is off until you turn it on, because whether you can claim it depends on your residency and situation, which Portfoli.au can't know. Tick Apply the CGT discount on the Tax pack page, or on the capital gains statement under Analytics, and every step shows what it changed.

• Individuals: 50% off gains on purchases held at least 12 months.
• SMSF portfolios: a third off.
• Companies: no discount.

Background: the 50% CGT discount and the 12-month rule.

• Losses come off gains that don't get the discount first, which leaves the most gain eligible for it.
• Then they come off gains that do, before the discount is applied.
• A net capital loss left over carries into the next year, and is shown there.
• Capital gains from your ETFs' annual tax statements are included, grossed up, so your losses can come off them too.

1. Check your name under Settings, Profile. It is the name the pack shows.
2. Open Tax pack and choose the financial year (1 July to 30 June).
3. If you keep portfolios for more than one person, choose whose pack under Whose. All of that person's portfolios go into one statement.
4. Turn the CGT discount on if you can claim it.
5. Download the PDF, and the sales and trades as spreadsheet files, for your accountant.

The full pack, with downloads, dividends and franking credits, is on Plus and Pro. Free shows the same capital gains statement for your portfolio as a preview. Super portfolios are left out unless you add them, because super is taxed in the fund. An SMSF portfolio has its own pack.

On Pro you can also give your accountant read-only access, so they can look for themselves. See portfolios, SMSFs and your accountant.

A gain is in the wrong financial year

The trade date decides the year. Check the sale's date against the contract note, not the settlement date.

A purchase isn't getting the discount

It needs 12 whole months between the purchase and the sale, not counting either day. A DRP allotment or a later top-up has its own date.

The gain doesn't match my broker's tax report

Brokers often match sales differently, leave out brokerage, or don't know what you paid for shares moved in from elsewhere. Check the method under Settings, Capital gains tax, and the purchases on the investment's page.

• Track dividends, franking and fund statements: Estimated dividends, franking from your statements, and ETF annual tax statements.
• Getting started with Portfoli.au: Create an account, get your first trades in, and find your way around.
• Import trades from your broker's file: Upload a CSV or Excel file, check the preview, and fix rows that can't be read.
• Email import: forward your contract notes: A private address for contract notes, how to forward them, and confirming each trade.
• All help, or the guides to investing and tax.

Still stuck? Email support@portfoli.au. New to Portfoli.au? Create a free account, with no credit card needed.