Small Business CGT Concessions Calculator.
You sold the business. What do you actually keep?
Sell a small business and four concessions in Division 152 can take the capital gains tax to zero. Most owners never find out they qualified. This works out which of them you meet, applies them in the order the law requires, and shows you what you actually keep - then what happens to the part that has to go into super, which is where the concession stops being an accounting answer and becomes a decision.
The sale
What you keep
No capital gains tax on this sale. Without the small business concessions it would have been $287,100.
Gross gain
$1,250,000
Taxable after concessions
$0
Tax saved
$287,100
Into super
$312,500
How the gain comes down
- General 50% CGT discount− $625,000
Held longer than 12 months. This one is not a small business concession - it is available to any individual or trust, and it applies before the Division 152 concessions.
- Small business 50% active asset reduction− $312,500
Automatic once the basic conditions are met, unless you choose to skip it - which is occasionally worth doing to leave a larger amount available for the retirement exemption and the super contribution that follows it.
- Retirement exemption− $312,500
At 55 or over you can take this amount personally, though contributing it under the CGT cap is usually the better answer. $500,000 of your $500,000 lifetime limit was available.
Then it has to go somewhere
$312,500 can be contributed to super under the CGT cap of $1,935,000 for 2026-27, which is separate from — and far larger than — the $130,000 non-concessional cap.
One timing trap worth knowing: the CGT cap election has to reach the fund on or before the contribution. A late form makes the election invalid and the whole amount counts against the $130,000 non-concessional cap instead.
How this is calculated＋
Runs Division 152 of the ITAA 1997 in the order the law requires: capital losses first, then the general 50% CGT discount, then the small business 50% active asset reduction, then the retirement exemption. Where the 15-year exemption applies the whole gain is disregarded and none of the others are used — a distinction most calculators get wrong by treating it as another 50%.
Tax on the gain is the difference the gain makes to your year, not a flat marginal rate: a large gain climbs brackets, so applying the top rate overstates it and applying your current rate understates it. FY2026-27 resident rates plus the 2% Medicare levy.
Thresholds as at August 2026: net asset value test $6,000,000, CGT small business entity turnover $2,000,000 (not the $10m general threshold — a common confusion), retirement exemption lifetime limit $500,000, CGT cap $1,935,000.
Deliberately out of scope: the small business rollover, which defers rather than exempts and depends on a replacement asset; earnout arrangements; and for share and unit sales, the additional integrity conditions that have applied since 8 February 2018. Any of those in play means the number above is a starting point rather than an answer.
Tax outputs prepared under LINK Advisors Pty Ltd, registered tax agent 25504639. Superannuation strategy through LINK Wealth, an authorised representative of Millennium3 Financial Services Pty Ltd, AFSL 244252.
Talk to Advisors →General information only, not personal tax, financial or legal advice, and not a substitute for it. It uses published rates and reasonable assumptions but knows nothing about your circumstances, your structure or your history. Small business CGT eligibility turns on facts this tool does not ask for. Talk to us before you act on any number here — and before you sign a contract, because most of what decides the answer is fixed at that point.
Questions people ask
What are the small business CGT concessions?
Four of them, and they stack. The 15-year exemption disregards the whole gain if you have owned the asset 15 years and are 55 or over and selling in connection with retirement. The 50% active asset reduction halves what is left. The retirement exemption exempts up to $500,000 over your lifetime. The small business rollover defers the gain against a replacement asset. Used together with the general 50% discount, a great many business sales end up with no capital gains tax at all.
Do I qualify for the small business CGT concessions?
You need to pass the basic conditions: a capital gain, either aggregated turnover under $2 million or net assets of you and your connected entities under $6 million, and the active asset test - the asset was used in the business for at least half the period you owned it, or 7.5 years if you owned it more than 15. Selling shares or units adds further conditions, including a 20% participation percentage. The calculator above names which one you fail rather than just saying no, because most of them are decided by structure and timing.
Is the $6 million net asset test before or after the sale?
Just before the CGT event. It counts the net value of the CGT assets of you, your connected entities and your affiliates - but it excludes your superannuation and, to the extent it is private, your home. Those two exclusions are why plenty of people who assume they are well over the threshold are not.
How much can I put into super after selling my business?
Up to the CGT cap, which is $1,935,000 for 2026-27 and is separate from - and far larger than - the $130,000 non-concessional cap. Amounts from the 15-year exemption and the retirement exemption count against it. One condition catches people out: the CGT cap election has to reach your fund on or before the contribution, and a late form makes it invalid, at which point a seven-figure contribution lands against the non-concessional cap instead.
Do I have to be retiring to use the retirement exemption?
No, despite the name. The retirement exemption has no retirement requirement at all. If you are under 55 the exempt amount must be paid into a complying super fund or retirement savings account; at 55 or over you can simply take it. It is the 15-year exemption, not this one, that requires the sale to be in connection with retirement.
Does putting the money into super create a new problem?
It can, and this is new. From 2026-27, Division 296 applies an extra 15% to earnings attributable to a total super balance above $3 million, and a further 10% above $10 million. A CGT cap contribution of up to $1,935,000 can carry someone through that threshold in one transaction. It rarely makes the concession the wrong call, but it makes timing and how the contribution is split between spouses a real decision rather than a formality.
While you're here
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