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Capital improvements to pre-CGT assets

Last updated 30 August 2010

If you make a capital improvement to a CGT asset you acquired before 20 September 1985, this improvement will be treated as a separate asset and be subject to capital gains tax if certain conditions are met. These conditions relate to the improvement thresholds in the table below.

If these conditions are met, when a CGT event happens to the original asset, the cost base of the capital improvement must be:

  • more than the improvement threshold for the year in which the event happens, and
  • more than 5% of the amount of money and property you receive from the event.

If there is more than one capital improvement and they are related to each other, they are treated as one separate CGT asset if the total of their cost bases is more than the threshold.

The improvement threshold is changed to take account of inflation. The thresholds for 1985-86 to 2000-01 are shown in the following table.

Improvement thresholds for 1985-86 to 2000-01

Income
year

Threshold
($)

1985-86

50,000

1986-87

53,950

1987-88

58,859

1988-89

63,450

1989-90

68,018

1990-91

73,459

1991-92

78,160

1992-93

80,036

1993-94

80,756

1994-95

82,290

1995-96

84,347

1996-97

88,227

1997-98

89,992

1998-99

89,992

1999-2000

91,072

2000-01

92,082

 

Start of example

Example: Personal use asset

In 1983 David bought a boat. In August 1997 he installed a new mast for $30,000. He sold the boat for $150,000 in the 2000-01 income year.

As the cost base (including indexation) of the new mast was less than $92,802 when the boat was sold, the new mast is not treated as a separate asset. Therefore, because David bought the boat before 20 September 1985, capital gains tax does not apply.

End of example

QC16195