Should an investment property be in your own name, joint names or a trust? It is an easy question to pass over, because it does not change the price or the rent. It changes who keeps the money, for as long as you own it and on the day you sell.
Own name
The owner claims any loss against their own income and pays tax on the gain. The higher their income, the more a loss is worth and the more a gain costs. Simple, cheap to set up, and in most states it carries the full land tax threshold.
Joint names
Losses and gains split by ownership share, usually half each. That suits a couple on similar incomes. It suits a couple on very different incomes less well, and incomes change.
A trust
A family trust can direct income to whichever beneficiary pays the least tax each year, and trusts keep the 50 per cent capital gains discount on gains made before 1 July 2027. Companies get no discount at all. But a trust cannot pass a loss out to its beneficiaries; the loss stays in the trust. Land tax is often higher too. In New South Wales, land in a discretionary trust gets no tax-free threshold. In Queensland, trusts pay from $350,000 of land value, against $600,000 for individuals.
A couple buy two investment properties while she is at home with young children. On advice to claim the losses where they are worth most, both go mostly into his name. It works for eight years.
Then she returns to medicine and soon earns twice what he does. She has no deductions. When they sell, most of the gain falls to him, whatever their incomes are by then.
None of it was wrong on the day. It was decided for the years she was at home, not the next fifteen. Modelling both incomes, eight or ten years ahead, would have shown it.
What changes in 2027
From the 2027-28 income year, losses on established homes bought after 7.30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 can no longer be offset against wages. That applies to individuals, companies and most trusts alike. For gains made from 1 July 2027, the 50 per cent discount gives way to indexation. For an individual, a minimum tax of 30 per cent applies to the gain, except in a year they receive the Age Pension or another listed payment. The structure still counts, but the arithmetic has changed. And on 14 October 2026 the Government introduced a bill, not yet law, for a 30 per cent minimum tax on family (discretionary) trusts from 1 July 2028, with relief from 1 July 2027 to restructure out of a family trust, for example into a company. If you hold property in a family trust, that is one to watch with your accountant.
Who this does not suit
A trust has set-up and yearly costs that a single modest property may not justify. Your accountant sets up the structure; modelling the years ahead first shows whether one is worth it.
Set each name and structure side by side against your own incomes before anything is signed. To do that, book a first conversation. It costs nothing.
Nicholas Lockhart
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Source: Australian Taxation Office, Tax reform - Boosting home ownership - Reforming negative gearing and capital gains tax (updated 29 June 2026); ATO, CGT discount (updated 29 June 2026); Revenue NSW, Land tax thresholds and rates (updated 16 March 2026); Queensland Revenue Office, Land tax rates for companies and trusts; Queensland Revenue Office, Land tax rates for individuals (both read 19 October 2026); Treasurer, media release “Tax reform for a fairer tax system”, 14 October 2026.