Guide

Investment tax in Australia, whatever broker you used

eToro, CommSec, Stake, Interactive Brokers, a super fund's share option — the broker changes what your statement looks like, not what the Australian rules ask of it. Here is what applies to all of them, and where the statements differ.

The rules are the broker's, the tax is Australia's

An Australian resident is taxed on worldwide investment income the same way regardless of where the trade was placed. Shares and ETFs you own are capital gains assets; sell one and the gain or loss is a capital gains event. The broker's country, the exchange, the currency — none of that changes the rule, only the arithmetic on the way to it.

What every statement leaves you to work out

The 12-month discount, per parcel

Hold a capital gains asset more than twelve months and an individual can generally halve the taxable gain. The test is per parcel, on each parcel's own acquisition date — not an average across a holding. This is the same whether the parcel came from eToro or CommSec.

Foreign shares are converted to Australian dollars, dated

US shares through Stake or Interactive Brokers, or a US-listed ETF anywhere, are priced in US dollars — but the gain is worked out in Australian dollars, each leg converted at the rate on its own date. A holding up in US-dollar terms can read differently once the currency move is counted.

Franking credits on Australian shares

Dividends from Australian companies often carry franking (imputation) credits — tax the company already paid, which an individual can generally claim, and which can be refundable. A CommSec or eToro dividend line shows the cash; the credit has to be grossed up and declared.

CFDs are not capital gains

If any of the trading was through contracts for difference — common on eToro, and offered elsewhere — those gains and losses are ordinary income on revenue account, no discount, and must not be mixed into the capital gains figure.

Where the statements differ

The rules are constant; the exports are not. eToro hands you a multi-sheet workbook with closed positions already paired. CommSec, Stake and Interactive Brokers give a transaction log — a list of buys and sells you have to match into parcels yourself. Some quote in cents, some in dollars; some separate fees, some fold them in. The work of a return is reading whichever format you have and applying the same rules to it.

Daybook reads all of them. Point it at your eToro workbook, your CommSec or Stake CSV, an Interactive Brokers activity statement — or any transaction export, by confirming which column is which — and it matches the parcels, converts every line at the Reserve Bank's daily rate, applies the 12-month discount where it is due, grosses up franking, keeps CFDs on revenue account, and prepares the working papers as a PDF. It runs on your own computer; nothing is uploaded.

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Not tax advice. General information about how some Australian tax rules apply to investing, not advice about your circumstances and not a substitute for the ATO or a registered tax agent. Check the rules at ato.gov.au or with your accountant before you file.

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