If you make a capital loss, you can't claim it against income but you can use it to reduce a capital gain in the same income year. And if your capital losses exceed your capital gains in an income year, you can generally carry the loss forward and deduct it against capital gains in future years.
All assets you’ve acquired since tax on capital gains started (on 20 September 1985) are subject to CGT unless specifically excluded. Most personal assets are exempt from CGT, including your home, car, and most personal use assets, such as furniture. CGT also doesn’t apply to depreciating assets used solely for taxable purposes, such as business equipment or fittings in a rental property.
If you’re an Australian resident, CGT applies to your assets anywhere in the world. Foreign residents make a capital gain or capital loss if a CGT event happens to an asset that is 'taxable Australian property'.
SELLING YOUR HOME (MAIN RESIDENCE)
Most real estate apart from your ‘main residence’ (family home) is subject to the same capital gains (CGT) rules as other assets. This includes vacant land, business premises, rental properties, holiday houses and hobby farms.
You can generally claim the main residence exemption from CGT for your home. To get the exemption, the property must have a dwelling on it and you must have lived in it. You're not entitled to the exemption for a vacant block. 
Generally, a dwelling is considered to be your main residence if:
- you and your family live in it
- your personal belongings are in it
- it is the address your mail is delivered to
- it is your address on the electoral roll, and
- services such as phone, gas and power are connected.
The main residence exemption is not based on one factor alone, and the weight given to each varies depending on individual circumstances. The length of time you stay there and your intention in occupying it may also be relevant.
INHERITING A HOME (MAIN RESIDENCE)
If you inherit a dwelling that was the main residence of the person who left it to you, any capital gain on its subsequent disposal may be exempt. However, until you're sure of the circumstances, you should keep records of relevant costs incurred by you and the previous owner, or their trustee or executor.
You won't need to keep records of the previous owner’s costs if:
- you inherited the dwelling after 20 August 1996
- the dwelling was their main residence just before they died, and
- they were not using the dwelling to produce income at the time of their death.
In these circumstances, you'll be taken to have acquired the dwelling at its market value at the date of death. If the executor or trustee has had it valued, get a copy of that valuation report. Otherwise, you'll need to get your own valuation.
When you sell or otherwise dispose of real estate, the time of the event (when you make a capital gain or capital loss) is usually:
- when you enter into the contract (generally the date on the contract), not when you settle – the fact that a contract is subject to a condition, such as finance approval, generally doesn't affect this date
- when the change of ownership occurs if there is no contract (such as when a property passes to a beneficiary), or
- if the real estate is compulsorily acquired – the earliest of–when you receive compensation from the acquiring entity.
Although you report your capital gain or loss in the tax return for the income year in which the contract is entered into, you're not required to do this until settlement occurs. If settlement occurs after you've lodged your tax return and been assessed for the relevant income year, you'll have to request an amendment.