Documentation

Getting started

ShareTax computes Australian Capital Gains Tax (CGT) from broker exports — no manual data entry, no spreadsheet copy-paste. The flow is the same whether you sign in with an account or use guest mode:

1. Guest mode — open the app and start using it without signing up. A temporary session is created automatically and lasts 24 hours; your data is deleted at the end of that window.
2. Create an account — sign up at /login. Your portfolios and history persist across sessions.
3. Import your first CSV — head to Import CSV from the sidebar, drag in a broker file, and ShareTax processes it in seconds. Multiple files in a ZIP are supported too.
4. Review — open Holdings for live prices and unrealised P/L, CGT Events for the realised disposals that go on your return, and Performance for the bigger picture.
5. Export — download a PDF report (portrait summary + landscape disposal table + General Advice Warning page) or an Excel workbook from the Dashboard.

Broker guides

Click a broker to see the step-by-step export instructions. ShareTax accepts the native export format from each — there’s no need to convert, rename, or reshape columns.

Using a broker not listed? Download our Generic CSV template from the Import page — any broker whose statement can be exported to CSV will work via the template format.

How calculations work

FIFO — First In, First Out

When you sell shares, ShareTax matches the disposal against the oldest parcel first. If your first sell only consumes part of an older parcel, the remainder stays on the books for the next sell.

FIFO is the ATO’s preferred method for cost identification under Taxation Ruling TR 96/4. ShareTax uses it by default and does not offer specific-identification — keeping things simple and auditable.

12-month CGT discount

Under ITAA 1997 s115-25, individuals get a 50% discount on capital gains from assets held for more than 12 months. The boundary is inclusive — an asset acquired 28 Jan 2025 has to be sold on or after 29 Jan 2026 to qualify. ShareTax tracks this date arithmetic per parcel automatically.

Loss offset — ATO order

Capital losses offset gains in a specific order under the ATO’s prescribed method:

1. Apply current-year losses to non-discountable (short-term) gains first.
2. Apply any remainder to discountable (long-term) gains.
3. Then apply the 50% discount to what’s left of the long-term gains.

This sequencing maximises the value of your discount. ShareTax does it automatically — the breakdown is visible on the Dashboard and in the PDF report.

FX (USD trades)

Stake US trades and any other USD-denominated trade are converted to AUD at the FX rate on the transaction date. The exchange rate comes from the broker statement when available, otherwise it’s computed from the trade’s local-value and AUD-value columns.

On the Holdings page, US-listed positions show the original USD price as a small line under the AUD figure so you can sanity-check it against your broker statement.

Platform & FIFO scope

FIFO is calculated per platform. Each broker is treated as a distinguishable parcel pool — a CommSec sale only draws from CommSec parcels, a Stake AU sale only draws from Stake AU parcels.

This matches the ATO’s position in Taxation Determination TD 33: shares of the same company held at different brokers are distinguishable assets and don’t pool. ShareTax keys identity on (code, platform, market) — so the same ticker on different exchanges (e.g. ASX:NXT vs NASDAQ:NXT) is also tracked separately.

Reference: ATO — ITAA 1997 s115-25 ↗

FAQ

Is my data stored?

Your trade records (date, code, platform, quantity, price, brokerage, currency, FX rate) are stored so you can come back to them. Raw CSV files are not stored. When you upload a file, ShareTax parses it in memory and immediately discards the bytes — only the extracted records survive. Same goes for ZIP bundles.

What if I have missing buys?

If a sell appears in your import but the buy that funded it doesn’t, ShareTax flags it on the Dashboard under Trade Reconciliation. The wizard there distinguishes between “sold without ever buying” (Type A) and “sold more than recorded buys” (Type B — usually an unrecorded stock split). You can resolve each one by importing the missing statement, recording the corporate action, or entering a manual opening balance.

Can I use this for my tax return?

The PDF and Excel exports are designed to align with the ATO’s CGT schedule. However, ShareTax is a computational tool, not a registered tax agent. You remain solely responsible for what you lodge with the ATO. We strongly recommend reviewing outputs with a qualified tax professional before lodging — particularly if your situation involves SMSFs, trusts, cryptocurrency, property, or anything beyond plain-vanilla equities. See the full General Advice Warning for details.

What brokers are supported?

Native support for CommSec, Stake AU, Stake US, and Betashares. Any other broker is supported via the Generic CSV template — drop your statement into the template format and ShareTax will process it like the natives.

What happens to my data if I cancel?

Registered accounts: data is retained for 7 years from account closure (ATO record-keeping obligation), then permanently deleted. Guest sessions: data is deleted after 24 hours regardless. Full details in our Privacy Policy.

Do you support property, crypto, or managed funds?

Not at launch. ShareTax is designed for individual Australian tax residents investing in publicly listed equities (ASX + international shares). If your portfolio includes other asset classes, ShareTax may not be the right tool — see the General Advice Warning.

Contact

General questions and CSV-import issues: support@sharetax.com.au

Privacy enquiries: privacy@sharetax.com.au
Legal matters: legal@sharetax.com.au
Compliance / AML concerns: compliance@sharetax.com.au

Found a bug or have a feature request? Email support@sharetax.com.au with subject “Bug report” and include the steps to reproduce.