A retrospective property valuation is an independent assessment of a property's market value as at a date in the past, prepared by a Certified Practising Valuer in accordance with the Australian Property Institute's Professional Practice Standards and the ATO's Market Valuation Practice Instruction (MVPI). It uses contemporaneous comparable sales, current physical inspection, and historical records to produce a defensible figure that will support a CGT calculation, an estate distribution or a transfer between related parties.
Three layers of authority govern retrospective valuations for tax purposes. Each shapes a different aspect of the report — what counts as market value, when an independent valuer must be engaged, and how the ATO assesses the result.
Retrospective valuations are needed whenever the ATO needs market value at a date other than the sale date. The most common triggers we see are:
Retrospective valuations rely on contemporaneous evidence — sales that settled within a reasonable window of the effective date, current physical inspection where possible, and historical records describing the property's condition at the date in question. Our typical methodology layers:
The ATO does not accept real estate agent appraisals as substantiation for material CGT positions. The table below summarises the key differences.
Every retrospective valuation we issue follows the API Professional Practice Standards and the ATO MVPI. The report is structured so your accountant can lodge it with confidence and so the valuation withstands ATO review or objection.
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