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Negative gearing calculator: your weekly cost after tax (2026)

Rent in, costs and interest out, depreciation as a deduction, and the tax saving at your 2026–27 marginal rate: what an investment property really costs you each week, and what changes from 1 July 2027.

Updated September 2026·Free, no sign-up

Property and loan

Purchase price

Loan amount

Interest rate (% a year)

Interest only, so the whole repayment is deductible interest.

Which describes the property?

Decides whether the 1 July 2027 change applies. The contract date counts.

Rent

Weekly rent

Vacant weeks a year

Weeks with no tenant; no rent comes in.

Annual costs

Council and water rates

Landlord and building insurance

Management fee (% of rent collected)

Set to 0 if you manage it yourself.

Repairs and maintenance

Strata or body corporate

0 for a freestanding house.

Depreciation

From a quantity surveyor's schedule. A deduction, not a cash cost.

Tax

Your marginal tax rate, 2026–27

Resident rates from the ATO, last updated 13 August 2026. Pick the band your taxable income falls in before the rental loss.

Your year, 2026–27

Rental income (52 weeks let): $32,500
Cash expenses (management $2,763): -$7,263
Loan interest: -$36,400
Cash flow before tax: -$11,163
Net rental loss: -$11,163
Tax saving at 37%: $4,130
Cost after tax, per year: $7,033
Your weekly cost after tax: $135

Gross yield 4.6%. The property is negatively geared on these figures. General information, not tax advice.

From 1 July 2027

From 1 July 2027 this loss can no longer reduce the tax on your wages. It can be used against residential rental income or the capital gain when you sell, and carries forward until then. With no other rental income, the weekly cost from 2027–28 is $215 on these figures.

The same package replaces the 50% CGT discount for gains that accrue after 1 July 2027. Read the negative gearing changes, the CGT changes and what passed into law.

What to do next

Pair this with…

Rental yield

Gross and net yield on a shortlisted investment property.

Capital gains tax

Estimate CGT on a property sale, including the discount.

Negative gearing from 2027

Who is grandfathered and what counts as a new build.

Worked example: a $700,000 investment property

The calculator opens on the example from our negative gearing guide: a $560,000 loan at 6.5% interest only, $625 a week in rent, $2,000 in rates, $1,500 in insurance, an 8.5% management fee and $1,000 of repairs. Replace them with your own figures. The rental loss is $11,163 a year; what it costs you after tax depends on your 2026–27 marginal rate.

Tax rate	Tax saved	Cost a year	A week
15%	$1,674	$9,489	$182
30%	$3,349	$7,814	$150
37%	$4,130	$7,033	$135
45%	$5,023	$6,140	$118

Rates: ATO, tax rates for Australian residents, 2026–27, last updated 13 August 2026, read 30 September 2026.

How the calculator works

Rent for the weeks the property is let.
Less cash costs: rates, insurance, the management fee on the rent collected, repairs and strata.
Less a year’s interest on the loan, as if interest only.
Less depreciation, which is a deduction but not a payment.
A loss saves tax at your marginal rate; a profit is taxed at it.
The cost after tax is the cash you put in, less the tax saved, divided by 52 for the weekly figure.

What changes on 1 July 2027

The 2026–27 Budget measures are law. From 1 July 2027 negative gearing on residential property is limited to new builds, and properties held at 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 are exempt; the 50% CGT discount is replaced with cost base indexation and a 30% minimum tax for gains that accrue after 1 July 2027 (ATO, last updated 29 June 2026). Pick which describes your property in the calculator and it shows what the loss is worth from 2027–28.

Read the detail before you buy

Our explainers cover who is grandfathered and what counts as a new build, how CGT is worked out under indexation, and what passed on 25 June 2026.

What this calculator doesn’t do

It doesn’t include the Medicare levy, or work out your bracket from your income: you pick the rate.
It treats the loan as interest only. On principal and interest, the interest part is a little lower and the principal is not deductible.
It doesn’t model rent or price growth, land tax, borrowing costs spread over five years, or the capital gain when you sell (the CGT calculator does).
It doesn’t track losses carried forward after 1 July 2027 or offset them against other rental properties you own.
It is general information, not tax advice. A registered tax agent can confirm what you can claim.

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Common questions

How do I calculate negative gearing?

Add up a year's rent, subtract every deductible cost (interest, rates, insurance, management, repairs, strata) and depreciation. A negative result is the rental loss, and the tax it saves is the loss times your marginal rate. On a $700,000 property with a $560,000 loan at 6.5% and $625 a week in rent, the loss is $11,163. At 37% that saves $4,130 in tax, so the property costs $7,033 a year, $135 a week.

Is negative gearing actually worth it?

Only if the property grows in value by more than it costs you to hold. The tax saving refunds part of the loss, never all of it: in our example you are still $135 a week out of pocket at 37%, $118 at 45% and $150 at 30%. Over ten years that is roughly $70,330 at 37% before rent rises, which the capital gain has to beat after CGT and selling costs. A higher-yield property that costs less to hold is often the safer bet, especially under the rules from 1 July 2027.

Can I still claim negative gearing on my investment property?

Yes, if you held it at 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 or it is a new build: the ATO says those keep negative gearing (last updated 29 June 2026). For an established home contracted after that time, losses still reduce tax on your wages in 2026–27, but from 1 July 2027 they can only be used against residential rental income or the capital gain on sale, carried forward until then. On our example that lifts the weekly cost from $135 to $215 if you have no other rental income.

What tax rates does the calculator use?

The ATO's resident rates for 2026–27 (last updated 13 August 2026): nil to $18,200, 15% to $45,000, 30% to $135,000, 37% to $190,000 and 45% above. Pick the band your taxable income sits in before the rental loss. The Medicare levy is not included, so the real saving is slightly higher, and a large loss can drop part of your income into the band below, which makes it slightly lower.

How does depreciation change the result?

Depreciation is a deduction you don't pay in cash, so it increases the tax saving without increasing the cost. Adding $8,000 of depreciation to our example lifts the tax saving from $4,130 to $7,090 and cuts the weekly cost from $135 to $78. A quantity surveyor's schedule sets the figure; our depreciation guide explains Division 40 and Division 43.