.png)
Some of it could be useful. Some of it is dressed up as reform but feels suspiciously like Canberra reaching into the couch cushions and checking whether investors left anything behind. And some of it is the Government saying “we’re simplifying things”, which, historically, is the sort of phrase that makes accountants instinctively open a second spreadsheet.
The big issues are clear: fuel costs, business cash flow, instant asset write-offs, loss carry back, negative gearing, CGT, trusts, EVs and red tape.
Let’s get into the bits that actually matter for business owners and investors. The Budget overview frames the package around “resilience and reform”, with a heavy focus on the global oil shock, tax changes, productivity measures and housing reform.
Good news first, because we’re not animals.
From 1 July 2026, the Government plans to make the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent for small businesses with turnover up to $10 million. That means eligible assets costing less than $20,000 can be written off immediately instead of depreciated over time.
This is useful. Not life-changing.
For small businesses, it means you can plan equipment purchases with a bit more certainty. Tools, technology, machinery, fit-out items and other business assets can be brought into your tax planning without the usual annual guessing game of whether the Government will extend the rule five minutes before the buzzer.
Just remember, it’s a tax deduction. It doesn’t mean the ATO buys the asset for you. You still need to spend the money first, which remains the slightly annoying bit.
From 2026–27, eligible companies that make a tax loss will be able to carry that loss back against tax paid in the previous two income years and receive a refund of that prior tax paid.
This is one of the better measures, which means someone in Canberra may have accidentally spoken to an actual business owner.
Plenty of good businesses have lumpy years. One year you’re profitable, the next year fuel, wages, stock, freight and interest costs all line up outside your office with their hand out.
Loss carry back can help companies recover some tax paid in previous years when they later make a loss. It gives cash flow a bit of a pulse when things tighten.
From 2028–29, small start-up companies in their first two years will be able to receive refunds for tax losses, up to the value of FBT and PAYG withholding paid on employee wages. The Government says this could benefit up to 25,000 young companies each year.
This is aimed at businesses that are hiring, investing and building before they become profitable.
For genuine start-ups, this could help. It rewards businesses putting money into people and growth, rather than just producing losses with the quiet confidence of a business plan that says “scale” 27 times.
The Budget is built around what the Government calls a global oil shock. It points to the Middle East conflict, disrupted global oil supply, higher fuel costs, higher fertiliser costs and supply chain pressure. Inflation is forecast to hit 5% through the year to the June quarter 2026, with oil prices doing a fair chunk of the damage.
For small business, this is not just a petrol bowser problem.
Fuel flows through everything. Freight. Deliveries. Supplier pricing. Subcontractor rates. Agriculture. Construction. Manufacturing. Logistics. Even businesses that don’t think they’re exposed to fuel usually are. It’s hiding somewhere in the margin, wearing a little hat.
The Government has announced a temporary fuel excise cut from 52.6 cents to 20.6 cents per litre for three months from 1 April 2026, plus a temporary reduction of the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero.
That helps, but it’s temporary. Business owners shouldn’t treat a three-month fuel cut as a pricing strategy. That’s not strategy. That’s putting a Band-Aid on a forklift.
The Budget says the ATO will streamline temporary relief for eligible businesses affected by fuel supply issues until 30 June 2026. This may include more generous payment plans, remission of interest and penalties, help varying PAYG instalments and a dedicated channel for relief.
That’s useful for businesses genuinely under pressure.
But here’s the bit worth tattooing on the inside of your BAS folder: relief is not automatic. You need to engage early.
The ATO is usually more flexible when you front-foot the issue. It gets considerably less warm and fuzzy after six ignored letters, three missed lodgements and a director saying, “I thought it would sort itself out.” It rarely does. Lovely idea though.
Property investors, fasten your seat belt and return your tray tables to the upright position.
From 1 July 2027, negative gearing will be limited to new builds.
Existing arrangements will remain unchanged for properties held before Budget night.
Investors who buy established housing after Budget night will still be able to deduct losses against residential property income and carry forward unused losses, but they won’t be able to offset those losses against other income like wages.
That’s a major change.
For years, many investors have relied on the idea that an investment property loss can reduce their personal taxable income. For established properties bought after Budget night, that strategy gets a fairly firm “yeah, nah”.
The Government says the aim is to push tax support toward new housing supply and help first home buyers. Whether that works in practice is a bigger question. Governments do love fixing housing affordability by making the rules longer. It’s a tradition now.
For investors, the takeaway is simple: don’t buy an established investment property using the old numbers. The after-tax cash flow may look very different.
The Government will replace the 50% CGT discount with an inflation-based discount and introduce a minimum 30% tax on gains from 1 July 2027. The reforms will only apply to gains arising after 1 July 2027. Investors in new builds will be able to choose between the 50% CGT discount and the new arrangements.
This affects property investors, share investors and anyone holding assets with potential capital gains.
The idea is that investors should pay tax on their “real” gain after inflation. In some cases, that could be fairer. In others, particularly where gains are well above inflation, tax could increase.
It also adds complexity, because apparently the tax system looked at itself in the mirror and thought, “Needs more moving parts.”
If you hold assets with large unrealised gains, it’s time to model your position. Not panic. Not sell everything because someone on Facebook said the system is cooked. Just model it properly.
The Budget proposes a minimum 30% tax on discretionary trusts from 1 July 2028.
This is kind of a big deal.
The Government says this is about creating more equal treatment between wage earners and people receiving income through trusts. Fairness is a lovely word. It does a lot of heavy lifting in Budget papers, usually while someone quietly works out how to collect more tax.
Many small businesses and family investment groups use discretionary trusts for good reasons: asset protection, succession planning, flexibility and family wealth management. Not every trust is a tax dodge with a private school sticker on the Range Rover.
But the Government clearly thinks trusts have been having a bit too much fun at the tax planning barbecue.
The government says rollover relief will be available for three years from 1 July 2027 for small businesses and others who want to restructure.
If you operate through a discretionary trust, don’t wait until 2028 to think about this. Distribution strategies, bucket companies, family group structures, succession plans and asset protection all need a proper review.
This is not a “quick email in late June” issue. This is a “sit down with the group structure and maybe a biscuit” issue.
The Budget also introduces a new $250 Working Australians Tax Offset from 2027–28. It’s a permanent annual tax offset for more than 13 million working Australians, designed to help with cost-of-living pressure.
Now, any tax relief is better than no tax relief. We’re not throwing $250 in the bin just to make a point. But let’s call it what it is.
$250 a year works out to about $4.80 a week.
So yes, technically, it helps. In the same way putting one ice cube in the Murray River helps with drought.
For workers, it’s a small sweetener. For business owners, it may slightly ease household pressure for staff, but it’s unlikely to materially shift wage expectations, consumer spending or the broader cost pressures hitting.
The real issue is that fuel, rent, insurance, interest, groceries, utilities and wages have all moved sharply. Against that backdrop, $250 a year feels less like cost-of-living relief and more like Canberra patting everyone on the shoulder while quietly checking whether negative gearing and family trusts have left the back door unlocked.
The Budget claims its productivity reforms will reduce regulatory burden by $10.2 billion per year. This includes reforms to approvals, housing, financial sector regulation, tax simplification, tariffs, Digital ID and “tell-us-once” government services.
On paper, that sounds excellent.
In real life, business owners have heard “we’re cutting red tape” before. Usually while being asked to complete a new portal login, verify their identity with a code sent to an email address from 2016 and upload the same document for the fifth time.
Still, some of the measures could help. Free access to standards referenced in legislation may save tradies and small businesses up to $1,600 per year. Payroll tax administration reform could also reduce pain if done properly. There’s a lot of “if done properly” doing heavy lifting there.
The Budget expands venture capital tax incentives from 1 July 2027 and changes the R&D Tax Incentive from 1 July 2028. It increases support for experimental core R&D, changes refundability rules, increases turnover thresholds for some firms and raises the maximum expenditure cap.
For most traditional businesses, this won’t be front-page news.
For start-ups, tech businesses, advanced manufacturing, agri-tech, med-tech and innovation-heavy companies, it could be very relevant.
The direction is clear: the Government wants to better target R&D support toward genuine innovation. Which is fair enough. The R&D program has had its share of claims over the years, where the main experiment appeared to be whether the ATO was paying attention.
If you currently claim R&D, or think you might, get advice before the rules change.
The current FBT exemption for eligible electric cars is being transitioned to a permanent 25% FBT discount.
For eligible electric cars over $75,000, that change starts from 1 April 2027. For all eligible electric cars, it starts from 1 April 2029. Electric cars costing up to $75,000 can still receive the full FBT exemption if the arrangement starts before 1 April 2029. Existing arrangements won’t be affected.
So, the benefit isn’t disappearing tomorrow. But the full exemption has an expiry path.
If you’re considering an EV through a business or novated lease arrangement, timing matters. The numbers may still stack up, but don’t assume the rules stay as generous forever. Canberra giveth, Canberra quietly updates the eligibility criteria.
The first thing to do is simple: don’t panic.
These are Budget announcements, not final law. There’s still legislation to be drafted, debated and passed, and there are plenty of finer details we don’t have yet. Tax law has a charming habit of looking simple in a Budget summary and then arriving later with 82 definitions and a trapdoor.
For investors, now is the time to consider your options, not make rushed decisions. Review your current holdings, model future returns, estimate potential capital gains and compare the after-tax position under different scenarios. Property investors should be especially careful with any new established residential property purchases, because the proposed negative gearing changes could affect cash flow.
For trust structures, it’s worth starting the conversation. Review why the trust exists, how income is distributed, whether asset protection or succession planning is part of the structure, and what alternatives might be available. But don’t restructure just because a Budget paper looked at you funny. Until the detail is released, it’s hard to give firm advice.
The sensible move is to get your position mapped now, then make decisions once the rules are clearer. Calm, informed and slightly suspicious is the right setting.
This Budget is not just a cost-of-living Budget. It’s a tax reform Budget wearing a high-vis vest and talking about fuel security.
There are useful measures for small business. There are also some very clear signals that the Government is coming for parts of the investor tax system it thinks are a bit too comfortable.
That doesn’t mean panic. It means plan.
And preferably plan before the rules change, not after. The ATO rarely rewards the “I had a vague feeling this might be important” defence.
Disclaimer: This article is here to give you general info only, not professional advice specific to your unique situation. While efforts are made to ensure accuracy, the content may change over time. We can’t take responsibility for any decisions based on the contents of this article, so be sure to chat with your accountant or advisor first!
.jpg)
.jpg)
.png)
