Updated 10 October 2026
A CGT valuation is dated to the day the tax law fixes for the event, not the day that feels natural. A sale is valued at the contract date, not settlement. An inheritance is valued at the date of death, not probate. A home you start renting is valued at the day it first produced income. The 1 July 2027 reset is valued at the end of 30 June 2027. Get the day wrong and the report answers a question the ATO did not ask.
At a glance
- A property sold under a contract has its CGT event on the day the contract is entered into, not the settlement date
- An inherited pre-CGT property or main residence takes a cost base equal to its market value on the day the deceased died
- A former home first rented out is taken to be acquired at its market value on the day it first produced assessable income
- The 1 July 2027 reset values every affected property at the end of 30 June 2027, the same instant as the start of 1 July 2027
- Australian real estate is not deemed sold when you leave the country, but the 8 May 2012 value can still matter for a foreign resident's discount
In this guide
- The date is set by the CGT event, not by you
- The valuation date for every trigger event
- Contract date, not settlement
- Date of death, not probate
- The first day of income, not the day you moved out
- The end of 30 June 2027, which is the start of 1 July 2027
- The dates that are not valuation dates
- Why the exact day matters for the evidence
- Common questions
The date is set by the CGT event, not by you
Every valuation for capital gains tax purposes answers one question: what was this property worth on a particular day? The day is not a matter of choice. Each trigger in the tax law names its own time, and the market value has to be the value on that day, supported by evidence that existed around it. A report dated to the wrong day is not a slightly wrong report. It is evidence for a date the ATO is not assessing.
The confusion is understandable because the natural date and the legal date often differ. People remember settlement, probate, the day the tenant moved in, or the day they flew out. The law fixes the contract, the death, the first day of income and, for the reset, the last instant of 30 June 2027. This guide sets out the day that counts for each event, the rule behind it, and where on this site the detail lives.
The valuation date for every trigger event
| Trigger event | The day that counts | What sets it | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selling or buying under a contract | The day the contract is entered into | CGT event A1 happens on the contract date, not at settlement | Capital gains tax valuation |
| Selling or buying with no contract | The day ownership changes | The ATO treats the event as happening when you stop, or start, being the owner | Capital gains tax valuation |
| Inheriting a pre-CGT property | The date of death | The first element of the beneficiary's cost base is market value on the day the deceased died | Deceased estate valuation |
| Inheriting the deceased's main residence | The date of death | Same rule, where the dwelling was the deceased's main residence and not producing income | Two-year rule for inherited property |
| Inheriting any other post-CGT property | No valuation date | The beneficiary inherits the deceased's own cost base; a valuation is not what sets it | CGT on inherited property |
| Moving out of your home and renting it | The day it first produced assessable income | Section 118-192 treats you as acquiring it at market value on that day | Home to investment valuation |
| Holding property across the 2027 reset | The end of 30 June 2027 | The deemed disposal and reacquisition happen at that instant, which is the start of 1 July 2027 | 1 July 2027 valuation |
| Transferring to a relative, trust, company or fund | The day of the CGT event | Market value is substituted at the time of the event, which is the contract date where there is one | Related party transfer valuation |
| Becoming a foreign resident | No deemed sale of real estate | Australian property stays in the CGT net; the 8 May 2012 value can matter for the discount | Expat and foreign resident valuation |
| Family law settlement | The settlement, for the court; the original acquisition, for CGT | Rollover carries the original cost base and date to the receiving spouse | Family law valuation |
| Pre-CGT property with no event yet | None until an event gives it one | Death, or the 2027 reset, is what first fixes a cost base | Pre-CGT valuation |
The rest of this guide takes each of those rows in turn.
Contract date, not settlement
For a sale or purchase under a contract, the CGT event happens on the day the contract is entered into. The ATO's own example is a house sold with a contract in one income year and settlement in the next: the gain belongs to the contract year. Settlement is when the money moves, not when the event happens.
That has two consequences for valuations. A market value substituted for the sale price, for instance on a transfer between family members, is the value on the contract date. And the purchase date that starts your ownership period, which the 1 July 2027 apportioning formula counts in days, is the contract date of the purchase, not the day you got the keys.
Where there is no contract, the event happens when ownership changes. Gifts, transfers on a change of trustee and some family arrangements sit here, and the date on the transfer document is the one that counts.
Warning
The 2027 formula counts days from the contract dateThe apportionment formula divides your ownership into days before and after 30 June 2027. Both ends of that count run from contract dates. If your records show settlement dates, the count is off by weeks at each end, and the growth rate the formula compounds is built on the wrong period. The CGT calculator takes the purchase date as an input for this reason.
Date of death, not probate
When you inherit a property the deceased acquired before 20 September 1985, or a dwelling that was their main residence and was not producing income when they died, the first element of your cost base is the property's market value on the day they died. Not the date probate was granted, not the date the title passed to you, and not the date you sold it.
Probate can take months, and the transfer to the beneficiary longer again. None of those dates appear in the cost base rule. The valuation that supports the beneficiary's position is dated to the death certificate. Where the deceased owned the property jointly, the survivor is taken to acquire the deceased's share on the same day.
For every other post-CGT asset, the beneficiary simply inherits the deceased's own cost base. There is no valuation date because a valuation is not what sets the figure.
The two-year window for selling an inherited main residence free of CGT also runs from the date of death. Where it lands at the end depends on when your ownership ends, which is a question of its own, covered in the two-year rule for inherited property.
For advisers
An estate that includes property held across 1 July 2027 has two valuation dates on one title: the date of death and the end of 30 June 2027. Both are retrospective exercises if left until the sale. Both are routine if commissioned near the date. See CGT on inherited property for how the two interact.
The first day of income, not the day you moved out
When you first use your home to produce assessable income, and the conditions in section 118-192 are met, you are taken to have acquired it on that day at its market value on that day. The rule applies where you acquired the home on or after 20 September 1985, first used it to produce income after 20 August 1996, would have been entitled to a full exemption immediately before that day, and would only get a partial exemption on sale because of the income use.
The day is the first day of income use, not the day you moved out and not the day you decided to rent it. For a property let through an agent, the tenancy and listing records fix it. The gap between moving out and the first tenant can be weeks, and prices move in weeks, so the valuation is dated to the income day and not to the move.
The reform behind the 1 July 2027 date is explained in our guide to the CGT changes.
Need a valuation as at a specific date?
Independent valuation reports for capital gains tax purposes, prepared by a Certified Property Valuer and supported by documented comparable sales evidence for the date. Residential $297 and commercial $595, AUD inc. GST, delivered in 24 to 48 hours, current or retrospective.
Start your orderHow it worksThe six-year absence rule changes whether you need the valuation, not the date of it. If you choose to keep treating the property as your main residence while it is rented, and sell within six years, the reset in section 118-192 may not apply at all. If you hold longer, or the conditions are otherwise met, the market value on the first income day is your cost base. The six-year rule valuations page covers the interaction, and the home first used to produce income rule sets out the conditions in full.
The end of 30 June 2027, which is the start of 1 July 2027
The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 deems every affected property to be sold and reacquired at market value at the end of 30 June 2027. That instant is the start of 1 July 2027, so the two dates describe the same moment. A report dated as at 30 June 2027 and one dated as at 1 July 2027 are valuing the same market on the same evidence.
The choice of method, a valuation or the apportionment formula, is made at lodgement for the year of sale, but the value has to be the value at that instant. The 1 July 2027 valuation service covers what the report contains, and valuation vs the apportionment formula works through why the date matters so much under the compounding method.
The dates that are not valuation dates
Some dates people expect to matter do not.
Leaving Australia. When you stop being an Australian resident, most of your CGT assets are deemed sold at market value on that day. Australian real estate is not one of them. It stays in the CGT net whatever your residency, so there is no valuation at the departure date for the property itself. The date that can matter is 8 May 2012: if you held the property then and are a foreign resident when you sell, you can use its market value on 8 May 2012 to work out how much of the discount survives. Expat and foreign resident CGT valuations covers that, and the rules for expats and foreign residents covers the exemption and the withholding.
A family law settlement. The court, or the parties, need a current value at the time the settlement is struck. That is a valuation, but it is not a CGT valuation. Where the property passes to a spouse under the rollover, the receiving spouse inherits the original cost base and the original acquisition date, so the CGT clock does not restart at the settlement. Family law property valuations and CGT in family law settlements cover both sides.
Subdividing. Splitting a block is not a CGT event. The cost base is apportioned between the new lots on a reasonable basis, and the value that matters is the one on the day a lot is sold, at its contract date. The two hectare rule covers the main residence side of that.
A pre-CGT property with no event. A property acquired before 20 September 1985 has no cost base to value until something gives it one. Death does, at the date of death. The 2027 reset does, at the end of 30 June 2027. Until then there is nothing to date. Pre-CGT property valuations and pre-1985 property and the 2027 reset cover the two triggers.
Why the exact day matters for the evidence
A valuation is an opinion of market value as at a date, formed from sales evidence around that date. Move the date a month and the comparable set changes, and in a fast market the answer changes with it. The ATO's expectation for a market valuation is that it is objective, supportable and reasoned from evidence for the relevant time. A report for the wrong day fails that test before anyone reads the number.
The other reason is proof. A valuation commissioned near the event is prepared from evidence that is still easy to find. One commissioned years later is a retrospective valuation: the same task, done from records that thin out over time. It is routine work, and the fee is the same, but the sooner the date is fixed and the evidence gathered, the stronger the position. What makes a valuation ATO-compliant sets out what the report has to contain.
Common questions
Is the CGT date the contract date or the settlement date?
The contract date. The ATO treats the CGT event on a sale under contract as happening on the day the contract is entered into, so the gain, and any market value substituted for the price, belong to that day. Settlement only moves the money.
Is an inherited property valued at the date of death or the date of probate?
The date of death. For a pre-CGT property, or a main residence that was not producing income, the beneficiary's cost base is the market value on the day the deceased died. Probate and the transfer of title do not change it.
When I rent out my former home, is the valuation date the day I moved out?
No. It is the day the property first produced assessable income, which the tenancy and listing records fix. Section 118-192 treats you as acquiring the property at its market value on that day, provided the rule's conditions are met.
Is the 2027 reset dated 30 June or 1 July?
Both describe the same instant. The law deems the disposal and reacquisition at the end of 30 June 2027, which is the start of 1 July 2027. A report as at either date is valuing the same moment.
Is my property valued when I leave Australia?
Not for CGT. Australian real estate is not deemed sold when you stop being a resident. The date that can matter for a foreign resident is 8 May 2012, because the market value then can be used to work out how much of the discount survives.
Can a valuation be dated years after the event?
Yes. A retrospective valuation establishes market value as at a past date from the evidence of that time, and it costs the same as a current-date report. The earlier it is commissioned, the more evidence is still available.
