- Value entered
- $558,000
- Net cash from sale
- $115,688
Published · Updated · 2 min read
How much cash is left after selling a rental?
The price a rental sells for is not the money you receive. The lender is paid first, then the selling costs, then the tax on the gain, and what reaches your account is the rest. The order matters because the loan and the costs come out of the price on settlement day, while the tax is billed after the end of the financial year.
What comes off the sale price?
- The loan payout. The lender is repaid from the price, so the whole balance comes off, including the part that was principal.
- The selling costs: the agent's commission, marketing, legal fees and the discharge fee.
- The tax. The ATO treats a capital gain as part of income, so what the sale adds to your tax for the year is the figure that counts, not a flat rate on the gain.
- Any extra compulsory study loan repayment the gain brings on.
What does one sale leave?
- Bought in August 2021
- $520,000
- Value entered today
- $558,000
- Loan
- $416,000
- Selling costs
- 2.5%
For example, a unit is sold today for its value entered of $558,000. It was bought in August 2021 for $520,000 and has a loan of $416,000. The selling costs are 2.5% of the value. The owner is a resident individual who has held it longer than 12 months, so half of the gain is counted as income, as the ATO's CGT discount page sets out for a sale before 1 July 2027.
The unit's If sold page starts from the value entered of $558,000. It takes off the loan payout of $416,000, selling costs of $13,950, estimated tax of $9,531 and a study loan repayment of $2,831, which leaves net cash from sale of $115,688.
The estimated tax is the change the sale makes to the owner's income tax for 2026-27, capital gains tax included, worked out with the sale and without it. It is an estimate from the cost base and tax records entered, and your return decides the real figure.
Is cash left the same as being better off?
- Selling costs
- $13,950
- Estimated tax
- $9,531
- Net position lower by
- $23,481
No. In the same example the sale makes the owner's net position $23,481 lower, which is the selling costs and the tax. The loan payout and the study loan repayment do not lower it, because they use cash and cut debt by the same amount. So the $115,688 is the cash in hand. What the sale cost is the $23,481.
Why does the tax come later?
The loan and costs are settled on the day. The tax is part of the return for the year the contract was signed, so it is paid after that year ends. The cash left on settlement day is therefore larger than the cash left after the tax is paid, and the net cash above has already taken the tax off. A sale signed a week later can fall in another tax year. The sale a week either side of 1 July 2027 shows what that does to the cash.
How does PropRetire work it out?
The property's If sold page shows each line and its working, and a line of $0 is left out. For your own sale, enter the loan, the selling cost rate, the purchase price and the dates on the property, and the page does the sum. The capital gains tax calculator works the gain alone. The help guide lists what the estimate reads.