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Capital Gains Report

The Capital Gains Report summarises your realised gains and losses from selling investments during a financial year. This is the key report for understanding your Capital Gains Tax (CGT) obligations.

Accessing the Report

  1. Navigate to your portfolio page.
  2. Go to the Tax section (accessible from the portfolio menu or sidebar).
  3. Select the Capital Gains Report tab.
  4. Choose the Financial Year from the dropdown (e.g., FY2024 = 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024).

Capital gains report

Report Sections

Summary

The top section shows headline numbers:

MetricDescription
Total Capital GainsSum of all realised gains from SELL transactions in the financial year
Short-Term GainsGains from assets held for 12 months or less
Long-Term GainsGains from assets held for more than 12 months
Capital LossesSum of all realised losses from SELL transactions
CGT DiscountThe discount applied to long-term gains (varies by entity type)
Net Capital GainYour taxable capital gain after applying losses and discounts

How Net Capital Gain Is Calculated

The net capital gain follows this formula:

  1. Start with Total Capital Gains (sum of all profitable SELL transactions)
  2. Subtract Capital Losses (sum of all loss-making SELL transactions)
  3. Apply CGT Discount to the long-term portion of the remaining gain

CGT discount rates by entity type:

Entity TypeDiscount on Long-Term Gains
Individual50%
SMSF33.33%
Company0% (no discount)
Trust50% (passed to individual beneficiaries)
info

"Long-term" means the asset was held for more than 12 months between the purchase date and the sale date. Metrifly calculates this automatically based on your transaction dates.

Detailed Breakdown

Below the summary, a table lists each realised gain or loss event:

ColumnDescription
TickerThe stock that was sold
Buy DateWhen the shares were originally purchased
Sell DateWhen the shares were sold
QuantityNumber of shares sold
Cost BasisWhat you paid for those shares (including fees)
Sale ProceedsWhat you received from the sale (minus fees)
Gain/LossThe difference: Sale Proceeds minus Cost Basis
Holding PeriodHow long you held the shares (in days)
CGT DiscountWhether the 50% (or 33.33%) discount applies

Example

You bought 100 shares of CBA at $100 on 1 January 2023 and sold them at $120 on 15 March 2024:

  • Cost Basis: $10,000 + $9.95 fee = $10,009.95
  • Sale Proceeds: $12,000 - $9.95 fee = $11,990.05
  • Capital Gain: $1,980.10
  • Holding Period: 439 days (>12 months)
  • CGT Discount (Individual): 50% of $1,980.10 = $990.05
  • Taxable Gain: $990.05

Allocation Method Impact

The allocation method set in Portfolio Settings determines which lots are sold:

  • FIFO: Oldest shares sold first -- typically results in more long-term gains (eligible for CGT discount)
  • Minimise CGT: Optimises lot selection to produce the lowest tax liability, prioritising lots with the smallest gains or those eligible for the CGT discount

If you change the allocation method, all realised gains in the report recalculate.

Historical Cost Report

Alongside the Capital Gains Report, you can view the Historical Cost report which shows:

  • The cost basis of every lot you currently hold
  • Purchase date per lot
  • Whether each lot has passed the 12-month CGT discount threshold

This helps you plan future sales by identifying which lots will be eligible for the CGT discount.

Unrealised Gains Report

The Unrealised Gains report shows your current paper profits and losses:

  • Current value vs cost basis per holding
  • Unrealised gain/loss per holding
  • Which holdings would qualify for CGT discount if sold today

This is useful for tax-loss harvesting (selling losing positions to offset gains).

Finalising Reports

Once you have reviewed a financial year's report and verified it against your broker statements:

  1. Click Finalise on the report.
  2. The report is locked to prevent accidental changes.
  3. You can Unfinalise if you need to make corrections.
note

Finalising is optional and does not affect the ATO. It is a personal workflow tool to track which years you have reviewed.

Exporting

Click Export CSV to download the capital gains data for your accountant or tax agent. The export includes all detailed line items.

Troubleshooting

ProblemSolution
Report shows no dataYou may not have any SELL transactions in the selected FY. Switch financial years.
Gains do not match brokerCheck your allocation method. Different methods produce different results. Also verify all transactions are entered correctly (dates, quantities, prices, fees).
CGT discount not appliedThe holding period must exceed 12 months. Check the buy and sell dates on the transaction.
Missing a saleEnsure the SELL transaction exists and its date falls within the selected financial year.