Key takeaways
On 2 July 2026, the Australian Government introduced a Bill into Parliament to amend the foreign resident capital gains tax (CGT) regime. The Bill implements changes first announced in the 2024-25 Federal Budget and subsequently developed through an exposure draft process that commenced in April 2026.
The following summarises the key differences between the Bill as introduced and the prior exposure draft legislation (which we summarised here).
1. Retrospectivity on prior exits: abandoned.
The most significant departure from the exposure draft is the abandonment of retrospective application to prior exits. Under the exposure draft, expanded rules would have applied to exits occurring from 12 December 2006, potentially exposing foreign investors to Australian CGT on gains made up to 20 years prior. That position attracted overwhelming criticism from stakeholders and has not been carried through into the Bill as introduced.
