Guides / Capital gains
How to report share sales in myTax (2025–26)
Sold shares or ETF units between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026? Here's how capital gains tax works for Australian investors, step by step, and where each number goes in myTax.
1. Work out the gain or loss on each sale
Every sale is a separate CGT event. It happens on the contract (trade) date, not the settlement date, so a sale on 29 June 2026 belongs to 2025–26 even if it settles in July.
For each parcel you sold:
- Capital proceeds: what you received, less the brokerage on the sale.
- Cost base: what you paid, plus the brokerage on the purchase, adjusted for things like ETF tax-deferred amounts (more on that in our ETF tax statement guide).
- Gain or loss: proceeds minus cost base.
If you bought the same share at different times, you can choose which parcels you sold, as long as your records identify them. Choosing the parcels with the highest cost base, or ones held more than 12 months, can legitimately reduce your tax.
2. Apply your capital losses first
Capital losses can only reduce capital gains, not your salary. Take this year's losses, plus any net capital losses carried forward from earlier years, off your gains before applying the discount. Where you have a choice, apply losses to gains that don't get the discount first; that usually leaves you better off.
3. Apply the CGT discount
If you held the asset for at least 12 months (not counting the days you bought and sold), the remaining gain is reduced by:
- 50% for individuals and trusts
- 33⅓% for complying super funds, including SMSFs
- no discount for companies
4. Fill in myTax
Answer "yes" to having a capital gain or loss, then complete the capital gains section. The key labels are:
| 18H | Total current year capital gains: the gains before losses and the discount (including capital gains from ETF and managed fund distributions). |
|---|---|
| 18A | Net capital gain: what's left after losses and the discount. This is the amount added to your taxable income. |
| 18V | Net capital losses carried forward to later income years, if your losses were bigger than your gains. |
myTax may pre-fill some share sales from data your broker or share registry reports to the ATO. Always check it against your own records: pre-fill often misses the original purchase price.
5. Keep the records
Keep buy and sell contract notes, corporate action letters (splits, demergers, takeovers) and ETF tax statements for at least five years after the CGT event. If you're carrying a loss forward, keep them until five years after you use it.
Doing this for lots of trades?
Franked keeps every parcel, applies splits, demergers and ETF cost base adjustments, lets you pick the parcels you sold, orders your losses to save the most tax and shows the exact 18H, 18A and 18V figures, ready to copy into myTax. It's free for investors, and accountants can manage every client for $15 a month.
Deadline: if you lodge your own return, it's due by 31 October 2026. If you use a registered tax agent you may have longer. This guide is general information, not tax advice; your situation may differ, so check the ATO website or speak to a registered tax agent if you're unsure.