Hi, I’m selling a my rental house, I lived in it for 6 years and it was the rented for 20 months. During the time it was rented I lived with my partner in his house he owned. We have seperate but are financially independent of each other. In my last tax return I included him as a defacto as I was required to advise if he had private health etc.
can I claim the 6 year rule as I am selling my primary residence (my partners place is his).
Hi @Jade_B,
If you are living with a partner that also has their own home you can only claim 50% main residence exemption. The same will occur with your partner, they'll only be able to claim main residence exemption on 50% of their home when they sell or dispose of it. From the date you moved in together. You'll also need to know market value of your property from the date you first started using it to produce income. You'll both have a 50% CGT liability from the time you moved in together.
We've answered a similar post on our forum, you can view our response here.
You can also look at the information on having a different home to your spouse from our webpage.
Hi @Jade_B,
If you are living with a partner that also has their own home you can only claim 50% main residence exemption. The same will occur with your partner, they'll only be able to claim main residence exemption on 50% of their home when they sell or dispose of it. From the date you moved in together. You'll also need to know market value of your property from the date you first started using it to produce income. You'll both have a 50% CGT liability from the time you moved in together.
We've answered a similar post on our forum, you can view our response here.
You can also look at the information on having a different home to your spouse from our webpage.
Hi Jodie
thanks for your response, sorry I reread my question and the sentences were terrible.
If my partner and I have split, does the same still apply? We have no joint assets. We no longer live together. I live now somewhere else but am selling this property to be able to buy a new home.
As we lived together less than 2 years and have no shared assets or finances, does the above still apply?
Hi @Jade_B,
You still would need to factor in the timeframe you were living together with 2 residences. So adding to what was previously advised, if you have a liability for CGT only for a period of time, you can apply the partial exemption. This looks at the no' of days it was not your main residence over the no' of days of ownership x your total capital gain. Bear in mind your only declaring your 50% at Total capital gain label . Thereafter, if the property was owned 12mnths+ you can also apply the CGT discount, which is total capital gain amount less another 50% reported at Net capital gain label. The Net capital gain label is what we apply marginal tax rates to.
You may wish to speak with a tax agent to help you with your calculations.
21 May 2026 · 4 min read time
15 Apr 2026 · 8 min read time
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