Property · 10 July 2026
What the 2026 Tax Reform No. 1 Act means for property investors
The 2026 reforms are the most significant reset of property tax settings in a generation, and most of the commentary has been either alarmist or useless. The practical reality for investors sits in three places: how you own, when you transact, and what you can prove.
How you own. Reform eras punish structures chosen by default. An ownership arrangement set up years ago — one name on title because it was convenient, a trust because a friend had one — may now produce a very different after-tax result than it did when established. The right move is not to rush into restructuring, which has its own CGT and duty consequences, but to have the current structure reviewed against the new settings before making any other decision.
When you transact. Under transitional rules, timing matters more than usual. The financial year in which a contract is signed, when a property first earns income, and the sequencing of multiple disposals can each move the outcome materially. Anyone planning to buy, sell or refinance within the next two years should model the timing alternatives first — it is cheap insurance compared to the alternative.
What you can prove. Every reform increases the value of records. Cost base documents, loan statements showing use of funds, valuations at key dates, and evidence of periods of main residence use are the difference between a defensible position and an expensive argument. If your records for an existing property are thin, rebuilding them now — while banks, agents and solicitors can still produce documents — is one of the highest-return tasks available.
The takeaway: don't react to headlines; review your ownership structure, model transaction timing before committing, and rebuild your records while it's still easy. This is the subject of our books The Property Owner's Tax Playbook / 澳洲房产税务实战手册, and the first thing we work through in a property consultation.
Business · 3 July 2026
Division 7A in plain language: borrowing from your own company
Here is the misunderstanding that creates most Division 7A problems: "It's my company, so it's my money." Legally, it isn't. The company is a separate taxpayer, and when a private company lets money flow to a shareholder or their family — a transfer, a paid personal expense, an informal "loan" — the tax law has a rule for it.
Division 7A says that unless the arrangement is documented as a complying loan, the amount is treated as an unfranked dividend. In plain terms: taxable income in your hands, with no franking credit attached. It is one of the most expensive ways to access your own profits.
The fix is well established. A complying loan agreement must be in place by the company's lodgement day, charge at least the benchmark interest rate the ATO sets each year, and run for no more than the maximum term — generally seven years for an unsecured loan. From there, minimum yearly repayments keep the loan compliant, and those repayments are commonly funded by declaring franked dividends, which is exactly the planning conversation worth having each year before 30 June.
Three habits prevent almost all Division 7A pain: never treat the company account as a personal wallet; get every shareholder loan documented in the year it arises, not years later; and track minimum repayments annually rather than discovering a shortfall at tax time. Where old undocumented loans already exist, the position is usually repairable — but the options narrow with every year that passes.
The takeaway: money out of a private company is either salary, a dividend, or a properly documented loan. Anything else is a problem with a deadline. If your loan accounts have drifted, a Div 7A review is the place to start.
Cross-border · 26 June 2026
Moving to Australia: the tax decisions to make before you land
Most new migrants meet an Australian accountant for the first time when their first tax return is due. By then, the most valuable decisions have already been made — by default, and often badly. Australian tax residency is the switch that matters: once you are a resident, Australia generally taxes your worldwide income, not just your Australian income.
Know when the switch flips. Residency is a facts test, not a visa category. The law looks at whether you reside here in the ordinary sense, your domicile and permanent place of abode, day counts, and other factors. Families that split time between countries, or where one spouse arrives first, can get genuinely complicated — and the start date of residency determines everything downstream.
Understand deemed acquisition. For most assets you already own overseas — shares, funds, investment property abroad — becoming an Australian resident generally deems them acquired at their market value on that date for Australian CGT purposes. That makes valuations at the residency date extremely valuable, and it makes the choice of what to sell, keep or restructure before arrival a genuine planning decision rather than an afterthought.
Sequence your income events. Bonuses, share vesting, business sales, dividends from family companies overseas — whether these land before or after residency begins can change their Australian tax treatment entirely. The same applies to setting up structures: a family arrangement designed before the move usually has more options than one bolted on afterwards.
For clients coming from Hong Kong and mainland China, we run this as a structured pre-migration engagement, in Mandarin where preferred: residency timeline, asset-by-asset review, valuation checklist, and an arrival-year plan your future self will thank you for.
The takeaway: the best time for Australian tax advice is before you become an Australian tax resident. If your move is planned within the next two years, start the conversation now.