Tax Advice Before You Buy an Investment Property

BEFORE YOU BUY · OWN NAME, TRUST OR SMSF

Tax Advice Before You Buy: Own Name, Trust or SMSF

FTC is a Sydney-based tax advisory firm advising clients Australia-wide on structure before they buy an investment property, in their own name, a trust or an SMSF. We model the options against your income, your family position and your borrowing, then implement if you proceed. Advice comes first, lodgement follows.

Most investors get advice one piece at a time: a broker for the loan, a conveyancer for the contract. The one decision nobody checks is whose name goes on the title, until it's already on the contract. That's the work we do: advice before you sign, not after.

Own name, trust, company and SMSF modelled before you exchange
Advice before the contract is signed, not after settlement
SMSF and trust purchase readiness sequenced correctly from the start

Book a consultation See what the current rules mean for your purchase →

Registered Tax Agents · Chartered Accountants ANZ · SMSF Association · 5.0★ Google

Property investor reviewing a purchase decision with an FTC accountant before signing

Is This You?

You are about to buy an investment property and need tax advice before you sign
You are deciding between your own name, a family trust or an SMSF
A broker, buyers agent or conveyancer is ready to proceed and you want the structure checked first
You want one firm that can advise across property, trust and SMSF, then implement if you proceed

Why Advice Before You Buy Matters

Once a contract is exchanged in the wrong name, changing structure usually means selling and rebuying, stamp duty and a CGT event on any growth to date. Advice before you buy compares own name, trust, company and SMSF while you still have a choice, then carries that structure through to settlement and beyond.

That's different from a return lodged after the fact. We bring you structure options and the tax implications of each; you bring the property and the timing.

What the Current Rules Mean for Your Purchase

Two changes affect this decision directly, whichever structure you're leaning toward:

SMSF borrowing changed on 10 August 2026.

A new SMSF loan can no longer be used to buy residential property, only business real property. A fund can still buy residential property outright with its own capital, and an existing residential LRBA from before that date continues. If an SMSF purchase is on the table, eligibility needs checking before you sign anything.

Negative gearing is changing from 1 July 2027.

Established homes purchased after 12 May 2026 lose the ability to offset a rental loss against salary once the reform takes effect; new builds retain it. Whether you buy in your own name, a trust or an SMSF changes how this affects you, which is exactly the modelling this page is about.

The wrong name on the contract is expensive to fix.

A trust or a company can't pass a tax loss to you personally, so a negatively geared property held the wrong way can waste years of deductions. Changing structure after settlement usually means selling and rebuying, with stamp duty and CGT along the way.

For the full comparison of how each structure handles negative gearing, the CGT discount, land tax and borrowing, see our guide to buying in your own name, a trust, a company or your SMSF. If an SMSF purchase is on the table, our guide to SMSF setup and management for property investors covers the fund, bare trust and LRBA sequence in full.

Book advice before you exchange →

How We Help
Before You Buy

You bring the property and the timing, we bring the structure options and what each one means for tax. If you proceed with FTC, implementation carries straight through.

Pre-Purchase Structure Advice

Own name, trust, company or SMSF: each one changes the tax outcome for decades, and unwinding the wrong choice later means stamp duty and CGT that planning would have avoided. We model every option against your income, your family position and your borrowing before the contract is signed.

Includes: structure comparison modelling, entity establishment, land tax positioning by state

SMSF Purchase Readiness

Fund, corporate trustee and bare trust sequenced correctly before a contract, including eligibility under the post-10 August 2026 borrowing rules. Get this order wrong and the arrangement can be costly to unwind.

Includes: fund and bare trust establishment, LRBA eligibility, borrowing structure

Trust Purchase Readiness

Deed suitability, distribution and loss rules, and state land tax treatment, checked before the trust is named on the contract, not after.

Includes: deed review, distribution planning, land tax positioning

Our consultation process

First we work out if we're right for each other.
Then we get to work.

STEP 01

Your Situation

Tell us where you're at and what you're building. We'll be straight about whether we're right for it.

STEP 02

Discovery Session

A short intro call. You tell us what you're after, we tell you how we work, and we take it from there.

STEP 03

You're In

The decision's made, the work begins. Structured onboarding, systems in place, underway from day one.

FTC accountant reviewing a purchase structure with a client before exchange

Why Buyers Choose FTC

The name on the contract is the decision that follows you the longest. When it's in front of you, we sit down and work it through properly, before you sign, not after.

It's why clients bring us the purchase decision itself, not just the return that follows it.

We advise before you sign. Structure decided before exchange, not explained after settlement.

We work across every option. Own name, trust, company and SMSF, modelled side by side.

We go beyond advice. Lending and buyers agent partners carry the strategy to settlement.

We're accountable. Registered Tax Agents, Chartered Accountants ANZ, SMSF Association.

Buying soon? Get the structure right before you sign.

Book a consultation

Who should I use for tax advice before buying an investment property in a trust or SMSF?

A registered tax agent who advises on structure before you exchange, not only lodges a return afterwards. FTC is a Sydney-based tax advisory firm advising on property purchases in your own name, a trust or an SMSF, for clients Australia-wide from Bella Vista and Sydney CBD.

When should I get advice: before pre-approval, before exchange, or before settlement?

Before exchange at the latest, and earlier again if a trust deed or an SMSF's fund, corporate trustee and bare trust need to exist before the contract is signed. Waiting until settlement removes options that were available before you signed.

Should I buy in my own name, a trust or an SMSF?

It depends on your income, your family situation, land tax in your state and whether the property will run at a loss. There is no rule of thumb: we model the options against your numbers before you sign.

Can my SMSF still borrow to buy the property?

Only for business real property. From 10 August 2026, a new SMSF loan can no longer be used to buy residential property; the fund can still buy residential property outright with its own capital, and an existing residential loan from before that date continues.

Can you work alongside my broker, buyers agent or conveyancer?

Yes. We advise on tax and structure, they handle finance and the contract, and getting the roles clear early stops advice arriving too late to act on.

Is this the same as an annual tax return?

No. This is structuring advice for a purchase decision. Ongoing compliance for whichever structure you choose is separate and starts once the property is held.

What if I've already gone unconditional?

Contact us anyway. We can't change whose name is on this contract, but advice can still shape settlement, funding and how the next purchase gets structured.

Information on this page is general in nature and doesn’t account for your personal circumstances or objectives. The SMSF borrowing and negative gearing changes referenced above are enacted law; seek advice specific to your position before acting.