… from Sydney! I was lucky enough to go to the budget lock up in Canberra again this year for a verrrry interesting budget. A few of the changes explained below 💃🏻

Enjoy this weeks deals too!

The government announced two big tax changes for investors - one around negative gearing, one around capital gains tax (CGT). Both kick in from 1 July 2027. Here's what they actually mean.

Negative gearing

When your investment property costs more to run than it earns in rent, that's negative gearing and right now, you can use that loss to reduce your regular income and pay less tax.

From 1 July 2027, that's restricted to new builds only.

Buy an established property after 7:30 PM (AEST) 12 May 2026, and rental losses can only be carried forward to offset future property income - not other forms of taxable income (e.g. salary and wages).

One question I've been getting a lot: if you own your home now and rent it out later, does negative gearing still apply? The short answer is yes - as long as you owned it before 12 May 2026, nothing changes for you, even if you're not renting it out yet.

Capital gains tax

Sell an investment you've held for 12+ months? Right now you only pay tax on 50% of the profit. That's the CGT discount - it's been around since 1999.

That 50% discount is being replaced with inflation based indexation. Your gain gets adjusted for inflation first, then you pay tax on the real profit.

There's also a new minimum 30% tax rate on capital gains. Some people time when they sell investments to land in a low income year (retiring early, taking a career break, having kids) so they pay less tax. The minimum tax closes that loophole.

To put numbers on it: if you earn $25k in a year and make a $10k capital gain, you'd normally pay $1,400 in tax on that gain. But because the minimum is 30%, you'd actually pay $3,000.

For the transition, your gains get split at 1 July 2027. For example: Jane bought a property for $800k in 2022 and sold for $1.6M in 2032 - under the old rules her tax bill would've been $188,000. Under the new rules, $228,000. The gains she made before July 2027 still get the 50% discount. Everything after uses the new indexation method.

What this actually means

Existing investors are largely protected - gains up to 1 July 2027 still get the old 50% discount, and properties owned before 12 May 2026 keep negative gearing.

For future property investors, new builds are the ones that keep both tax perks. Established properties purchased after the cutoff lose negative gearing from 1 July 2027 onwards.

For share and ETF investors - this is where it gets complex. Every parcel you've bought has its own date and cost base, and each one gets its own split calculation at 1 July 2027. If you invest regularly, now is a good time to make sure your records are in order.

One thing worth noting: the CGT changes apply across all assets - property, shares, crypto. Whether that actually disincentivises property investing all that much is an interesting question 👀

You can read the full fact sheet here.

This is a general summary only and not financial or tax advice. For anything specific to your situation, please speak with your accountant or financial adviser.

There are two ways to earn bonus points with no activation required:

Option 1 - 10% bonus (manual transfer):

Option 2 - 20% bonus (auto transfer):

10% bonus (manual transfer)

20% bonus (auto transfer)

If you've got 50,000 Amex Membership Rewards points, transfer them to Velocity at a 2:1 ratio, giving you 25,000 Velocity Points. Transfer this month and next, and you'll receive an extra 2,500 Velocity Points on top, as a 10% bonus.

Or using auto transfer, that bonus jumps to 20%, so your 25,000 Velocity points becomes 30,000 Velocity Points. Here's what 30,000 Velocity Points could get you:

If you've been thinking about upgrading to an iPhone 17 (512GB) for $1,799, grab your Apple gift cards from Coles first and use them at Apple in store or online.

That earns you 35,980 Flybuys points, which converts to 17,990 Velocity Points. Here's what that could get you:

Or if you're just topping up your Apple TV+ subscription ($15.99/month), the points still add up:

🎙 Episode 263 – The super myths costing you money

🎙 Episode 264 – How to invest in your 20s

With an extra seat it was only $65, so much cheaper than flying!

Got a money win, lesson or tip? We’d love to hear it and celebrate with you!

Reply to this email, we’ll feature a few in the weekly newsletter.