Valuing a business as at 30 June 2027: the date and the evidence

What 'as at 30 June 2027' means

Every valuation answers one question: what would this business, or this interest in it, have sold for on that date? The date is not a formality. It decides which numbers, risks and hopes count.

Market value, as the ATO and the courts use it, is the price a willing but not anxious buyer and seller would agree at arm's length, both reasonably informed about the business and the market at that date. A valuation as at 30 June 2027 fixes three things:

• The position: what the business owned, owed and was committed to at the close of that day.
• The track record: trading results up to and including June 2027, not a month beyond.
• The outlook: what an informed buyer could expect on that date, including risks they could see coming.

Think of it as a photograph, not a film. Whatever happens to the business after 30 June 2027, good or bad, belongs to a different picture.

Why 30 June 2027, and not 1 July

From 1 July 2027, the 50% CGT discount for individuals and trusts (including partners' shares of partnership gains) is generally replaced, for gains that build up after that date, by cost base indexation for inflation, and Australian resident individuals pay at least 30% tax on those capital gains, with some exceptions. The ATO describes these measures as law.

To separate the two periods, the law generally treats Australian resident individuals and trusts with at least one eligible beneficiary as having sold relevant assets just before 1 July 2027 and bought them back straight afterwards. The Act's own notes place that notional sale on 30 June 2027. The amount used is market value just before 1 July 2027, or an amount worked out under an apportioning method the Government may set (still a draft at the time of writing).

So the valuation date is 30 June 2027, at the close of the day: what the asset was worth when the old period ended. Dating it 1 July puts it on the wrong side of the line. If your business balances on 30 June, there is a practical upside: the accounts, stocktake and balance sheet close exactly where the valuer needs them.

Your tax adviser can confirm two more points. A company's own assets are generally outside this rule, because companies can't use the 50% discount, except any asset it has held since before 20 September 1985. Shares in a private company held by an individual or a trust may be affected. And nothing is lodged or paid on 30 June 2027: any gain from the notional sale is generally deferred until you actually sell.

What evidence a valuer uses for a past date

The ATO's market valuation guide puts the rule simply: use the most relevant and reliable information known, or reasonably foreseeable, at the valuation date, judged against the market then and not with hindsight.

Records up to the date

The core is the business's own records to 30 June 2027: financial statements, monthly management accounts through June, the year-end balance sheet, customer and supplier data, contracts and leases in force, staffing, and any budgets or plans written before the date.

Market evidence known or knowable then

The valuer also looks outward: sales of comparable businesses before the date, industry conditions, and interest rates and the outlook as they stood in June 2027. Figures published a little later can help if they describe conditions that already existed then.

What is left out

Events nobody could reasonably have seen coming are left out, in both directions. If a major customer leaves in October with no warning signs in June, the 30 June value is not reduced. If that customer had given notice in May, it was known, and it counts.

Why the report is written after the date

A report as at 30 June 2027 cannot be finished before 30 June 2027. Until the year closes, the June trading, the stocktake and the year-end balance sheet do not exist, and a number built without them is a forecast, not a valuation.

So the report carries two dates: the valuation date, 30 June 2027, and the later date the valuer signs it. The ATO's guide expects a report to state its valuation assessment date (for example, an earlier date for a retrospective valuation) and record its information and sources in enough detail for the process to be repeated.

When Independent Business Valuation values a business as at 30 June 2027, the report is prepared and signed by a suitably qualified business valuer at Valuation Group. It can work from year-end accounts, or reliable management accounts to 30 June 2027 while final accounts are prepared, and says which.

Once your records to 30 June 2027 are in and the engagement is confirmed, a valuation is delivered in 2 business days for turnover under $2 million and 3 business days for turnover $2 million to $10 million. Delivery time starts once payment and all required information have been received, and pauses while we wait for answers to our questions or your signed representation letter.

Valuing 30 June 2027 years later

The law does not force the question early. Generally, the choice between market value and an apportionment method is made with the tax return for the year you eventually sell, and the gain on the notional sale can be worked out then. Sell in 2035, and the 30 June 2027 amount may first be needed in 2035.

A valuation as at 30 June 2027 prepared in 2035 is still possible, under the same rule: only what was known or knowable in June 2027. The difficulty is practical: the less evidence survives, the more must be rebuilt.

Hindsight is the hardest part. A higher 30 June 2027 value may place more of a later gain in the period that keeps the old discount treatment, so the figure may be tested closely. A valuer who already knows the business sold well has to show that did not shape the number. Records made at the time are the most persuasive answer.

What to keep now: a records checklist

Preserve what genuinely exists at the time, and never create documents later to fill a gap. A budget written in May 2027 carries weight. One written in 2030 carries little.

Financial

• Financial statements and tax returns for the three years to 30 June 2027
• Monthly management accounts for the year, including June
• Balance sheet, stocktake, asset register, and aged debtors and creditors at 30 June 2027
• Loan agreements, and any related-party loans, rent or family wages
• Notes on one-off or unusual income and expenses

Commercial

• Revenue by customer for the year to 30 June 2027
• Contracts, tenders and quotes on foot at the date, and any recurring revenue
• Premises lease terms, options and rent, and key supplier terms
• Staff list with roles, tenure and pay, and who holds key relationships
• Licences and whose name they are in, plus trade marks and domain names

Plans, risks and ownership

• Budgets, forecasts and business plans prepared before or around the date
• Documents written for another purpose at the time, such as a bank finance submission
• Any approach or offer from a buyer, and known risks such as a dispute or a key person leaving
• Share or unit register at 30 June 2027, plus the trust deed, shareholder or partnership agreement

Booking now

A valuation as at 30 June 2027 is prepared after that date, once your records to 30 June 2027 are available. You can book your place now. Booking ahead does not mean valuing early. It means the groundwork is done now and your place is held.

1. 01Check with your accountantAsk whether the rules may apply to you, and whether a valuation or an apportionment method suits you.
2. 02Book and scopeWe confirm what is being valued, which entity holds it and the date, then the scope and fee in writing.
3. 03Prepare before the dateYou get a records list for your business, and we flag gaps while they can still be closed.
4. 04Valuation after the dateOnce records to 30 June 2027 and payment are in, the valuer completes and signs the report.

We charge one fixed fee of $999 + GST for a full valuation report on one business or ownership interest with annual turnover under $10 million, including a valuation as at 30 June 2027. Larger businesses, groups and several interests: Quoted in writing. A value at a second date, such as today for planning, is $495 + GST per additional date. The fixed fee applies once we confirm the interest, purpose, structure and records fit the fixed-fee scope. Anything outside it is quoted in writing before we start. Fixed fee, confirmed in writing before we start. No hourly billing and no surprises.