Amalgamation of title

Warning:

This information may not apply to the current year. Check the content carefully to ensure it is applicable to your circumstances.

End of attention

The amalgamation of the titles to various blocks of land that you own does not result in a CGT event happening.

Land you acquire before 20 September 1985 that is amalgamated with land acquired on or after that date retains its pre-CGT status.

Examples of CGT calculations affecting real estate

There are a number of other examples in this guide that explain how to calculate your capital gain or capital loss on the sale of real estate:

• calculation of capital gain (including worksheet) where a person can choose the indexation or discount method to calculate their capital gain - see example of Val
• calculation of capital gain on property owned for 12 months or less - see example of Marie-Anne
• recoupment of expenditure affecting CGT cost base calculation - see example of John
• deductions affecting CGT cost base calculations -see example of Zoran.

Main residence

Generally, if you are an individual - not a company or trust - you can ignore a capital gain or capital loss from a CGT event that happens to your ownership interest in a dwelling that is your main residence (also referred to as 'your home').

To get full exemption from CGT:

• the dwelling must have been your home for the whole period you owned it
• you must not have used the dwelling to produce assessable income, and
• any land on which the dwelling is situated must be 2 hectares or less.

If you inherited a dwelling or a share of a dwelling and it was not the deceased's main residence, you may not get full exemption (see flowchart 6 in appendix 3, and Inherited main residence).

If you are not fully exempt, you may be partially exempt if:

• the dwelling was your main residence during only part of the period you owned it
• you used the dwelling to produce assessable income, or
• the land on which the dwelling is situated is more than 2 hectares.

Short absences from your home - for example, annual holidays, do not affect your exemption.

If a dwelling was not your main residence for the whole time you owned it, some special rules may entitle you to a full exemption or extend the part exemption you would otherwise get. These rules can apply to land or a dwelling if:

• you choose to treat the dwelling as your main residence, even though you no longer live in it (see Continuing main residence status after dwelling ceases to be your main residence)
• you moved into the dwelling as soon as practicable after its purchase (see Moving into a dwelling)
• you are changing main residences (see Moving from one main residence to another)
• you are yet to live in the dwelling but will do so as soon as practicable after it is constructed, repaired or renovated and you will continue to live in it for at least three months (see Constructing, renovating or repairing a dwelling on land you already own), or
• you sell vacant land after your main residence is accidentally destroyed (see Destruction of dwelling and sale of land).

Special rules

There are some special CGT rules that are not covered in this chapter that may affect you if your home was:

• destroyed and you receive money or another asset as compensation or under an insurance policy (see chapter 7)
• transferred to you as a result of its conversion to strata title, or
• compulsorily acquired by an Australian government agency (see chapter 7).

If you own more than one dwelling during a particular period, only one of them can be your main residence at any one time.

The exception to this rule is if you move from one main residence to another. In this case you can treat two dwellings as your main residence for a limited time (see Moving from one main residence to another for more information). Special rules apply if you have a different main residence from your spouse or dependent children (see Having a different home from your spouse or dependent child).