TL;DR – What You Need to Know

- The ATO receives data directly from share registries, ETF providers, managed funds, and crypto exchanges.
- All dividends, distributions, and capital gains must be declared — even if reinvested.
- Crypto has strict rules: swapping one coin for another, using crypto to buy goods, or receiving staking rewards are all taxable events.
- Good records are essential — especially for crypto and DRP shares.

If you've got investments — shares, ETFs, managed funds, or crypto — there are some things you need to understand before you lodge your 2026 tax return.

The most important one: the ATO already has most of this information.

Through data matching with share registries, managed fund administrators, crypto exchanges, and the ATO's own pre-fill systems, the ATO sees what you've earned and (in many cases) what you've bought and sold. Returns that don't match what the ATO already knows get flagged. It's not worth the risk.

Here's what applies to each type of investment.

Shares

Income — dividends

Every dividend you receive is assessable income and needs to be declared, including:

• Dividends paid in cash
• Dividends reinvested through a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRP) — even though you never see the cash, it's still income
• Dividends from Australian and overseas companies

Most Australian companies pay two dividends a year. You should receive a dividend statement for each one. Your share registry (Computershare, Link etc.) can provide a summary.

Franking credits: Australian dividends often come with franking (imputation) credits attached. These represent company tax already paid. You declare the dividend plus the franking credit as income, but you also get the franking credit back as an offset against your tax. Make sure your statements show the franking credit amount — we need it.

Capital gains — selling shares

Selling shares is a CGT event. The capital gain or loss is the difference between what you sold for and what you paid (your cost base).

A few important nuances:

• If you've held the shares for more than 12 months, you're eligible for the 50% CGT discount (noting this is changing from 1 July 2027 — see our Budget 2026 guide)
• If you're in a Dividend Reinvestment Plan, each reinvestment is effectively a separate purchase — every DRP allocation has its own cost base and purchase date. This makes the cost base calculation complex if you've been in a DRP for years
• Capital losses can be used to offset capital gains in the same year, or carried forward to future years

Records you need:

• Buy contracts (contract notes or confirmation emails)
• Sell contracts
• All DRP statements if you've reinvested dividends
• Annual tax statements from your share registry

The easiest way to manage all of this is Sharesight. It calculates your CGT automatically, tracks DRP parcels, and generates a report we can use directly.

ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds)

ETFs are bought and sold on the stock exchange like shares, but they work a little differently for tax.

Distributions

ETFs pay distributions (similar to dividends), but they can include a mix of income types: ordinary income, capital gains distributed by the fund, tax-deferred amounts, and foreign income. Each component is taxed differently.

Your ETF provider will issue an annual tax statement (sometimes called a Tax Statement or AMMA statement) that breaks down the components of every distribution. You need this document — don't try to work it out from the cash amount alone.

Capital gains — selling ETF units

The same CGT rules apply as for shares. Selling ETF units triggers a CGT event, and the 12-month holding period for the CGT discount applies.

What the ATO already knows

The ATO receives data from ETF providers and ASX records. If you've received distributions or sold units, it will be pre-filled in your myGov account — but pre-fill is not always complete or correct. Don't just accept what's there; check your actual statements.

Records you need:

• Annual tax statement from your ETF provider (not just the distribution amount — the full breakdown)
• Buy and sell contract notes

Managed Funds

Managed funds work similarly to ETFs from a tax perspective, but many are not listed on the ASX — you invest directly with the fund manager (e.g. through a platform like Netwealth or a direct investment with a fund like Vanguard).

Distributions

Managed funds also distribute income with multiple components — interest, dividends, capital gains, foreign income — and each is taxed differently. Your annual tax statement from the fund manager is essential.

Even if you reinvest your distributions back into the fund (which many people do automatically), you still need to declare the income. The reinvestment is a separate purchase with its own cost base.

Capital gains — redemptions

If you sell (redeem) units in a managed fund, CGT applies. The 12-month CGT discount is available if you've held the units for more than 12 months.

Records you need:

• Annual tax statement from your fund manager or platform (not just a transaction summary)
• Records of all purchases, including reinvested distributions

Cryptocurrency and Digital Assets

The ATO has been active in the crypto space for several years. Australian crypto exchanges are required to report user transaction data to the ATO. If you've traded on an Australian exchange, the ATO has a record of it.

What counts as a taxable event?

This is the bit a lot of people get wrong. It's not just "selling crypto for cash." A taxable event occurs when you:

• Sell crypto for Australian dollars (or any fiat currency)
• Swap or trade one cryptocurrency for another — e.g. converting Bitcoin to Ethereum. This is a disposal of the first asset and a purchase of the second. Both the capital gain on the Bitcoin and the cost base of the new Ethereum are established at that point
• Use crypto to buy goods or services — paying for something with crypto is a disposal
• Receive crypto as payment for work or services — this is ordinary income, not a capital gain
• Staking rewards and DeFi income — generally treated as ordinary income when received

What is NOT a taxable event?

• Transferring crypto between wallets you own
• Buying crypto with Australian dollars (this establishes your cost base but isn't a taxable event itself)
• Simply holding crypto — no event until disposal

The CGT discount

If you hold a crypto asset for more than 12 months before disposing of it, you may be eligible for the 50% CGT discount. This applies to individuals — not to crypto held as a business asset or trading stock.

Records you need

This is where crypto gets painful. You need a record of:

• Every acquisition: date, amount paid (in AUD), amount of crypto received
• Every disposal: date, amount of crypto sold/swapped, amount received (in AUD)
• Every crypto-to-crypto exchange: the AUD value of both assets at the time of the swap
• Any income received (staking rewards, payment for services): the AUD value at the date received

Your exchange transaction history is a starting point, but if you've used multiple exchanges or wallets, you'll need to consolidate everything. Tools like Koinly, CryptoTaxCalculator or CoinTracker can help pull this together and generate a tax report.

Download your full transaction history from every exchange you've used, even if you've moved the crypto elsewhere since. We need the complete picture.

The bottom line

The ATO is not guessing at your investment income — it's receiving data from the source. The safest approach is to have all your statements ready before you start the checklist, declare everything, and make sure your records are complete.

If you've got a complicated investment situation — lots of trades, multiple platforms, DRP shares going back years — get ahead of it. The more complex it is, the more time it takes to sort out correctly.

Head to the Growthwise 2026 Tax Return Checklist when you're ready. The checklist has a dedicated section for investments. Have your statements ready before you start.