Income tax when you buy or sell property

You only need to pay income tax on property sales in certain circumstances. If you know you need to declare your income from selling a property, here’s what to do.

When you need to pay tax on property sales

Fill out your income tax return

Fill out an income tax return for the tax year you sold the property. You’ll generally include the amount of property income you’ve earned in the 'Profit/loss from sale of property' box.

Property ownership types
Complete my individual income tax return - IR3 
Income tax for businesses and organisations 

Tell us about bright-line sales

The bright-line property rule means if you sell a residential property within certain time periods, you may have to pay income tax on any profit.

If the bright-line rule applies to your property sale, you also need to fill out a Bright-line property sale information - IR833 form. Send this to us along with your income tax return.

If you file your return online in myIR, you can fill out your IR833 at the same time.

The bright-line property rule
Completing your income tax return and IR833 

Bright-line and selling at a loss

If you sell a residential property at a loss and the bright-line rule applies, the loss will be ring-fenced against other property income.

This means you cannot claim the loss against other types of income such as self-employed income, rental income or salary and wages. You can only claim the loss when you make a profit from taxable property sales in the future.

Pay any tax owing

If you have an income tax bill, make sure you pay by the due date.

Make a payment