For high-net-worth advisers, tax strategy is no longer outsourced to a specialist or only considered at end‑of‑financial-year. It is embedded in portfolio construction, trading decisions and the ongoing management of wealth across increasingly complex structures.
Praemium’s latest HNW adviser research confirms just how central tax has become. Advisers report that around 70% of HNW clients are invested in tax‑optimised portfolios, compared with 50% of non‑HNW clients, reinforcing that tax is now a structural input into advice at higher asset levels.
What has changed is not the importance of tax, but the expectations surrounding it. As portfolios grow larger and more complex, clients increasingly assume tax is being managed well. The challenge for advisers is no longer whether tax strategy exists, but whether its contribution to outcomes is visible, intelligible and trusted.
Sophistication has outpaced articulation
The research points to a persistent imbalance between the sophistication of tax strategy and the way it is experienced by clients.
While most advisers raise tax considerations early when onboarding HNW clients, only around one‑third of clients are perceived to have a strong understanding of how tax strategy contributes to their outcomes. Advisers are clearly doing the work, but much of its value remains implicit rather than explicit.
This matters because invisible value rarely reinforces trust. Over time, tax strategy risks being perceived as expected hygiene rather than a differentiator, even when it has materially improved after‑tax outcomes.
EOFY remains the moment of assessment
Despite the rise of more frequent portfolio reviews, end of financial year continues to be the moment when tax strategy is most directly assessed.
This is the time when portfolios are scrutinised, liabilities crystallise and clients want to understand the consequences of decisions made throughout the year. In volatile markets, those conversations are sharper and more forensic. Advisers are asked not just what happened, but why.
In this context, tax outcomes take on greater weight. They are one of the few areas where advisers can demonstrate clear agency regardless of market direction, but only if those outcomes are clearly surfaced.
Yet Praemium’s research shows that 63% of advisers do not report tax outcomes separately to clients, despite offering tax‑effective strategies such as structure choices, income and expense timing, CGT management and superannuation planning. Even among HNW‑focused practices, more than half do not consistently bring tax outcomes to the foreground.
The implication is not theoretical. If tax outcomes are not visible, they cannot reinforce value at the point when clients are most attentive.
The infrastructure behind tax confidence
Tax value is not created by technology, but it is shaped by it.
Praemium’s research highlights the extent to which advisers rely on platform‑generated tax reporting to support both advice delivery and client communication. Among advisers with a medium to high HNW focus, almost half say more than 90% of their clients rely on platform tax reports to complete their annual tax returns.
This reliance reflects a deeper reality: platforms increasingly determine whether advisers can move beyond explanation by assertion and towards explanation by evidence.
Advisers are clear about what they need from that infrastructure:
- Reporting that is easier to interpret, particularly for client conversations
- Earlier access to tax information, not months after EOFY
- Greater visibility of CGT positions, including realised and unrealised gains, to inform decisions before trades are made
In fact, 85% of advisers rate access to CGT data and tools as important in trading decisions, with importance increasing as adviser responsibility for tax strategy rises. These are not incremental requests. They speak to a broader shift in how tax strategy is practiced — from retrospective optimisation to forward‑looking, decision‑led advice.
Tax strategy is becoming continuous, not episodic
The research also shows that advisers with a stronger HNW focus are more likely to:
- Review portfolios for tax considerations quarterly, rather than annually
- Hold ongoing conversations about tax strategy throughout the year
- Use tax visibility as an input into portfolio management, not just compliance
This reflects an evolution in HNW advice. Tax strategy is no longer confined to EOFY positioning. It is increasingly about maintaining visibility across time, so advisers can make informed trade‑offs, coordinate effectively with accountants, and retain control of the client narrative.
That coordination is not trivial. Around 7 in 10 HNW clients have their own accountant or tax specialist, making clarity and consistency in reporting essential. Where reporting is fragmented or delayed, advisers absorb the cost. Where it is clear and consolidated, advisers remain central to the conversation.
The implication for HNW advice
What differentiates leading HNW practices is not the pursuit of ever more complex tax strategies. It is the ability to translate tax work into insight clients can recognise and trust.
Praemium’s research suggests this capability is increasingly tied to reporting quality. Ninety‑six per cent of advisers using Praemium rate its tax reporting as comprehensive, reflecting the importance advisers place on visibility, structure and usability when communicating tax outcomes.
In practice, this means having access to:
- Consolidated tax and CGT reporting across complex portfolios
- Information that supports tax‑aware decisions, not just year‑end compliance
- Client‑ready reporting that underpins confident EOFY conversations
- Infrastructure that reduces friction between advisers, clients and accountants
The platform does not create advice value — but it plays a decisive role in whether that value can be demonstrated.
Praemium’s research makes one point clear: tax strategy is already fundamental to HNW advice. What varies is how effectively that value is articulated.
As portfolios grow, complexity increases and client expectations rise, the ability to explain tax outcomes becomes as important as the strategy itself. Advisers who can surface tax decisions clearly, consistently and credibly are better placed to reinforce trust — particularly when markets are volatile and scrutiny is high.
In the next phase of HNW advice, advantage will accrue not to those who claim the most sophisticated tax outcomes, but to those who can make tax value visible, intelligible and defensible.
That is where confidence is built — and where advice value endures.
Source for statistics: Praemium/CoreData Tax Alpha research 2025