The 2026-27 Budget Tax Changes Are Now Law: What Actually Passed

On Budget night we covered what was proposed. A few weeks later, on 26 June 2026, the proposals became law - Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026 and its companion rates Act received assent, and the package passed largely intact. This piece closes the loop: what actually made it through, when each measure starts, and what the changes are worth in real dollars.

That last part matters, because most of the coverage you'll read still says "announced" or "proposed". These measures are enacted. You can plan on them.

First, the correction everyone needs

The tax cut most people associate with this Budget isn't from this Budget. The drop in the $18,201-$45,000 bracket from 16% to 15% (and to 14% from 2027-28) was legislated back in 2025 under the More Cost-of-Living Relief Act. The 2026-27 Budget changed no rates and no thresholds at all. If a calculator or an article bundles the bracket cut into "the Budget changes", it's double-counting - worth knowing before you compare numbers anywhere, including here.

What actually became law

1. The $1,000 instant work deduction - live now (2026-27). Every taxpayer with work-related expenses can claim a flat $1,000 without receipts, or their actual expenses if higher. No shoebox required. If you currently claim less than $1,000, this is a straight tax cut.

2. The Working Australians Tax Offset - from 2027-28. A $250 non-refundable offset against tax on labour income. Modest, fixed (not indexed), and it effectively lifts the tax-free threshold to about $19,985.

3. Rental loss quarantine - dwellings bought from 12 May 2026, applying from 2027-28. Negative gearing as most people know it ends for newly acquired residential property: rental losses no longer offset your salary, they carry forward against future rental profits or the eventual sale. Properties owned before Budget night keep the old treatment.

4. CGT reform - from 1 July 2027. The 50% CGT discount is replaced with CPI indexation of your cost base (for assets held 12 months or more), with a minimum 30% tax rate on covered gains. Gains accrued before the cutover are preserved under the old 50% treatment via a deemed-sale transition. Newly built dwellings are carved out.

What it's worth: worked examples

The 2026-27 benefit is the instant deduction: $1,000 off your taxable income, worth $1,000 times your marginal rate. From 2027-28 the $250 offset stacks on top.

• Salary $90,000 (no other deductions): $320 better off in 2026-27, rising to $570 a year from 2027-28.
• Salary $130,000: same $320, then $570 - the deduction is worth the same across the whole 30% bracket.
• Salary $200,000: $470 in 2026-27, then $720 a year.
• A household on $90,000 + $90,000: $640 this year, $1,140 a year from 2027-28.

(Lower incomes see smaller dollar benefits, since the deduction's value scales with your marginal rate; the offset interactions there deserve their own piece.)

Small numbers? For a pay packet, yes. For a FIRE plan, they compound: $570 a year invested at 7% is roughly $14,000 extra after 15 years - a few months off a retirement date, from a deduction you claim by doing nothing.

The property measures cut the other way for some plans. If your FIRE strategy leans on negatively geared property bought after 12 May 2026, or on selling appreciated assets after mid-2027, the arithmetic of your plan has genuinely changed - in ways a flat rule of thumb won't catch, because indexation versus the 50% discount depends on your holding period and what inflation does. We looked at the property measures in depth when they were announced.

See your own numbers, not ours

Worked examples are illustrations. The examples above assume a single income and no other deductions - your plan has super contributions, investment income, maybe a property, maybe a partner. GetFired's projection runs the actual legislated rules year by year, and it has a switch most people haven't noticed: the pre-Budget comparison. Flip it and your projection draws twice - once under today's law, once under the rules as they stood before the Budget - so you can see what the changes do to your own FIRE date, not a hypothetical's.

Compare your projection pre- and post-Budget →

Not ready for the full workspace? The New Tax Rules Calculator shows the pay-side change in under a minute.

General information only, not personal financial advice. Projections are planning estimates based only on the inputs provided.