CGT events and the valuation date each one needs.

Why the date matters more than the number

A valuation is an opinion of market value at a single moment. Change the moment and you change the answer — sometimes by a great deal, because Australian property markets have moved sharply in several of the periods that CGT work reaches back into. A report dated correctly and reasoned transparently will usually be accepted even where the Commissioner would have picked a different figure. A report dated incorrectly is worthless no matter how good the analysis.

The date is a question of law, not valuation. Your accountant or tax agent determines it from the facts of the transaction; we value to the date we are instructed to use. If the instruction is unclear we will say so before we begin rather than produce a report to the wrong date.

Event-to-date reference table

The events below account for the overwhelming majority of valuation instructions we receive.

Common CGT events and their valuation dates

Four dating traps we see repeatedly

Each of these has cost a taxpayer an amended assessment in matters we have been asked to review after the fact.

• Using the contract date when the law calls for the settlement date, or the reverse. For a disposal, CGT event A1 happens at contract; but a market value substitution under s116-30 is tested at the time of the event, which is not always the same day money changed hands.
• Valuing at the date of probate rather than the date of death. Probate can be granted many months later, in a different market.
• Treating the date a tenant moved in as the first income-producing date when the property was advertised, available and genuinely income-producing earlier.
• Using a single valuation for a property that moved in and out of main residence status more than once. Each changeover may need its own effective date.

When one property needs several dates

Multi-date instructions are common and we quote them as one engagement rather than several. A property bought before 1985, rented from 1998, lived in from 2006 and sold last year may need three effective dates to support a defensible apportionment. Each date is researched separately, because the comparable sales evidence for 1998 has nothing to do with the evidence for 2006.

Tell us every date you think may be relevant at the quote stage. Adding a date later means a second evidence search and a supplementary report; including it up front usually costs very little more.

Questions we are asked about this

Keep reading

Sources

• Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 — Consolidated Act, AustLII
• Market valuation for tax purposes — Australian Taxation Office — the eight valuation fundamentals
• Australian Property Institute — Professional Practice Standards and the CPV designation

This page is general information about how valuations are used for tax purposes. It is not tax advice. Your accountant or tax agent should confirm which provision applies to your circumstances.