Ownership structure analyser
Land tax, negative gearing, the 50% CGT discount and the incoming 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts all point in different directions. Tell it what you already own and what you want to buy next, and it works out whose name the new property should go in: you, your partner, joint, a trust or a company. Or run a whole portfolio through every common structure.
8
States & territories, 2026 land tax schedules
7
Possible buyers tested for every purchase
1 Jul 2028
Trust minimum tax switches on automatically
7 October
Rates last reviewed (2026)
Best way to buy this property
Buy it in:
After-tax profit
Ahead of next best
Extra land tax, yr 1
Close call. The top two options are within 2% of each other. Borrowing capacity, asset protection and estate planning may matter more than the tax difference.
Each row adds the new property to that owner and re-runs your whole household, so land tax counts the land each owner already holds in the same state.
Sale proceeds plus all after-tax cash flows, less your deposit and purchase costs, over years
For each possible buyer, the whole household is simulated year by year twice: once with the new property in that buyer’s name, and once without it. The difference, less your deposit and purchase costs, is the after-tax profit shown.
Land tax is calculated per owner and per state on that owner’s combined land, so buying in a name that already holds land in the same state can push the total over the threshold. Each owner type uses its own scale: NSW trusts get no threshold, VIC and SA trusts pay surcharge rates, and QLD companies and trusts use a $350,000 threshold. Jointly owned land is assessed as one owner, and each partner is also assessed on their half together with their own land, less their share of the joint assessment. Queensland instead assesses each co-owner on their share plus their own land.
Income tax includes negative gearing for individuals, trust and company losses carried forward, existing trust income absorbing a new property’s losses, trust distributions streamed to the lowest-taxed family members, the proposed 30% trust minimum tax from 2028-29, 30% company tax, and the 50% CGT discount (individuals and trusts only). The loan is interest-only and the property is sold at the end of the holding period. Your existing properties keep their current owners and are not sold.
Not included: depreciation, foreign purchaser surcharges, lending differences between entities, and anti-avoidance rules (Part IVA, land tax grouping of related trusts and companies). This is general information, not tax or financial advice.
Highest after-tax outcome over years
vs. holding in your name
Land tax, your name
Year 1
Personal threshold
Trust threshold
Negatively geared
After land tax, your name
Nominal dollars · ranked by after-tax wealth on sale
| Structure | Land tax yr 1 | Cash flow yr 1 | Land tax total | Income tax | CGT on sale | Set-up & transfer | After-tax wealth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Income tax is the extra tax (or refund, shown negative) the portfolio causes across the household, trust and companies, including trust minimum tax and company tax. Company and bucket-company wealth .
Where each structure becomes cheaper or dearer
Dashed line marks your current aggregate land value. The hybrid line fills your personal threshold first and puts the remainder in a trust.
Holding period only, before sale proceeds
Lifetime tax and structure costs by type
Annual land tax at of aggregate land across propert. Land tax is levied state by state, so spreading a portfolio across jurisdictions gives you a fresh set of thresholds in each.
| Jurisdiction | Individual | Joint (2 people) | Separate titles 50/50 | Discretionary trust | Company |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (verify) |
Simulation. Each structure is simulated year by year from the first income year. Rent, expenses and land value grow at the rates you set; the loan is interest-only. Land tax is calculated on the land each owner holds, using that owner’s scale, and is deducted from rental income. The portfolio is sold at the end of the final year.
Individuals. Net rental income or loss is added to the owner’s other income and taxed at 2026-27 resident rates (15% second bracket), then 2027-28 onwards (14%), with the low income tax offset and Medicare levy. Losses offset salary in the same year (negative gearing). Joint ownership is assessed as a single owner for land tax in every state except Queensland, which assesses each co-owner on their share; “separate titles” means each partner owns different properties outright.
Discretionary trusts. Losses are trapped in the trust and carried forward against later trust income. Positive net income is streamed to whichever beneficiaries minimise total household tax. From 2028-29 (if enabled) the proposed 30% minimum tax applies: the trustee pays 30%, individual beneficiaries receive a non-refundable 30% offset, and corporate beneficiaries receive no credit. Capital gains keep the 50% discount and are assumed to be within minimum-tax income, as the exposure draft defers detailed CGT rules.
Companies. Rental income is passive, so the company is not a base rate entity and pays 30%. Companies get no CGT discount. Losses carry forward. Retained profits can be shown after the top-up tax to pay them out as fully franked dividends at your marginal rate. Division 7A, which affects loans from the company, is not modelled.
Hybrids. For “separate titles” and the hybrid structures, the split is optimised in 5% steps to maximise after-tax wealth. Real portfolios split property by property, so treat the percentage as a guide to which assets should go where.
Not included. Depreciation, stamp duty on purchase, foreign surcharges, absentee surcharges, principal place of residence exemptions, NSW 3-year averaging, land tax grouping of related companies, Part IVA, PAYG instalments, inflation and discounting. SA and WA schedules come from secondary sources and should be confirmed with the relevant revenue office.
Status. The discretionary trust minimum tax is a 2026-27 Budget measure, released as exposure draft legislation on 3 September 2026. It is not law and its detail may change. This tool gives general information only and is not financial product, tax or legal advice.
Scenario guide
These are the patterns practitioners see most often. They are starting points to test in the calculator above, not rules — the right answer depends on your numbers, your state and your family.
Your name
Losses come off your salary at 37–47%, you keep the full 50% CGT discount, and individual land tax thresholds are the most generous on offer. Buy in the name of the higher-earning partner while the property makes a loss.
Watch for: aggregate land value creeping over your state’s threshold, and no asset protection.
Separate titles
Each partner has their own threshold in every state. Joint ownership is usually assessed as one owner, which wastes a threshold — except in Queensland, which assesses each co-owner on their share.
Watch for: tax on income going to the lower earner, and borrowing capacity in one name.
Discretionary trust
Until 30 June 2028, distributions can be streamed to family members on lower rates. From 2028-29 the proposed 30% minimum tax removes most of that saving, so the case rests on asset protection, succession and flexibility.
Watch for: no threshold in NSW, surcharges in VIC and SA, and losses trapped in the trust.
Multiple trusts · QLD
Queensland assesses each trust on its own land, so separate trusts with genuinely different beneficiaries can each use the $350,000 company and trust threshold.
Watch for: the “cloned trust” rules. Trusts with the same beneficiaries are aggregated.
Company
A flat 30% on retained rental profit can beat a 47% marginal rate for high-yield commercial assets. For growth assets it usually loses: there is no 50% CGT discount, and paying profits out means top-up tax on dividends.
Watch for: Division 7A on money taken out, company grouping for land tax, and a lower threshold in QLD.
Hybrid
Keep the properties you already own personally and buy the next one in a new entity, a partner’s name, or another state. This avoids transfer costs and adds a new land tax assessment for each new owner.
Watch for: finance in a new entity, and Part IVA if the main purpose is obtaining a tax benefit.
Timing
The cheapest restructure is the one you do before you buy. Moving an existing property into a trust or company is a CGT event at market value, and in most states it attracts transfer duty of roughly 4–5.5% of value. Land tax savings alone rarely recover that.
Switch the calculator to Already own (your name) to see how many years it takes a structure to repay those costs.
Your next purchase would push you over the threshold
Compare buying in a partner’s name, in another state, or in a new entity. Each new owner gets its own land tax assessment.
A property turns cash-flow positive
Personal ownership was best while it made losses. Future purchases with a similar profile may suit a trust or company — weighing in the 2028 minimum tax.
You take on business or professional liability risk
Asset protection can justify a trust with a corporate trustee even when the tax result is neutral or slightly negative.
You already hold property in a discretionary trust
Before 1 July 2028, review whether to keep it, make an excluded election trust (fixed entitlements) election, or use the proposed roll-over window (1 July 2027 – 30 June 2030). Model it in the trust tax calculator →
Tenovo’s full tax engine handles multiple entities, depreciation schedules and real loan structures, and keeps a record your accountant can review.