Stamp duty on property purchases in Australia

Stamp duty on a property purchase, more correctly called transfer duty or land transfer duty, is a tax levied by each state and territory on the transfer of land. It is not a federal tax, there is no national rate, and the amount payable on an identical purchase can differ by tens of thousands of dollars depending on the border on which the property sits.

For most buyers it is the largest single expense of the transaction after the deposit itself, and it usually cannot be added to the loan. Understanding how it is calculated, and which concessions apply, is therefore part of working out what a household can actually afford rather than a detail to be settled later.

How transfer duty is calculated

Every state and territory except the Northern Territory uses a bracketed sliding scale. Duty is a fixed base amount for the bracket in which the property falls, plus a percentage of the value above the bracket threshold. The result is that duty rises faster than price: the average rate increases as the property becomes more expensive.

Duty is charged on the dutiable value, which is generally the greater of the purchase price and the market value of the property. This prevents duty being avoided by recording an artificially low price in a transaction between related parties. Revenue offices round the value up to the next $100 before applying the schedule, so published calculators and the figures in this article may differ by a few dollars from an assessment.

The Northern Territory is the exception below $525,000, where duty is set by a statutory formula rather than a bracket table, and then by flat percentages of the full value above that point.

Several jurisdictions charge different amounts depending on who is buying. Queensland and the ACT publish separate, lower schedules for owner-occupiers. Victoria applies a concession for a principal place of residence between $130,000 and $550,000. New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania apply the same general schedule to owner-occupiers and investors, and deliver assistance through first home buyer relief instead.

What duty costs across the states

The following figures are indicative, calculated on the 2026-27 schedules for an established residential home, excluding foreign purchaser surcharges and any first home buyer relief. They are provided to show the scale of the differences rather than as an assessment. Current amounts should always be confirmed with the relevant revenue office.

State or territory	Owner-occupier at $700,000	Investor at $700,000	Owner-occupier at $900,000
New South Wales	$25,687	$25,687	$34,687
Victoria	$37,070	$37,070	$49,070
Queensland	$17,350	$24,525	$26,350
Western Australia	$27,265	$27,265	$37,466
South Australia	$32,330	$32,330	$43,330
Tasmania	$26,748	$26,748	$35,685
ACT	$17,048	$20,040	$28,058
Northern Territory	$34,650	$34,650	$44,550

At $700,000 the gap between the lowest and highest jurisdiction is roughly $20,000, which is more than many households save in a year. Victoria is consistently the most expensive of the larger states for a non-concessional purchase, while Queensland and the ACT apply lower owner-occupier schedules. The stamp duty calculator produces figures for any price, state and buyer type.

The progression within a single state is also worth seeing. In New South Wales, duty on an owner-occupied purchase is about 3.34 per cent of the price at $500,000, 3.77 per cent at $800,000, 3.92 per cent at $1,000,000 and 4.56 per cent at $2,000,000. A premium rate applies above roughly $3.87 million.

First home buyer relief, state by state

Relief for first home buyers is usually more valuable than the First Home Owner Grant, and in several states it is the main form of assistance for an established home. The structures as at the 2026-27 year are as follows. Thresholds are reviewed in state budgets and change frequently.

State or territory	Relief for an established home
New South Wales	Full exemption to $800,000 and a concessional rate to $1,000,000 under the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme
Victoria	Full exemption to $600,000 and a sliding concession to $750,000
Queensland	First home concession removes duty to $700,000, phasing out in steps to nil at $800,000. New homes attract a full concession with no price cap
Western Australia	No duty to $600,000 and a concessional rate to $800,000, for agreements entered into from 7 May 2026
South Australia	Relief applies to new homes only, with no price cap. Established homes attract full duty
Tasmania	The exemption for first home buyers of established homes applied to settlements up to 30 June 2026 and is no longer available
ACT	From 1 July 2026 the Home Buyer Concession Scheme provides a full exemption with no income test and no property price cap, subject to eligibility conditions
Northern Territory	Support is delivered mainly through grants for new homes rather than a general duty exemption

The ACT position is unusual and worth noting: from 1 July 2026 an eligible first home buyer pays no conveyance duty regardless of the price of the property. Eligibility conditions still apply, including that buyers and their partners must not have owned property in the preceding five years and must live in the home as their principal place of residence for at least one year, commencing within one year of settlement.

Tasmania moved in the opposite direction. Its full exemption for first home buyers of established homes ran from 18 February 2024 to 30 June 2026, and eligibility depended on the settlement date rather than the contract date. Purchases settling after that date pay ordinary duty.

Concession thresholds create sharp edges

Because relief is defined by thresholds, small differences in price can produce large differences in duty. Two examples illustrate the point.

In Victoria, the principal place of residence concession applies to values between $130,000 and $550,000. On the 2026-27 schedule an owner-occupied purchase at $550,000 attracts about $24,970 of duty, while the same purchase at $560,000 attracts about $28,670. An increase of $10,000 in price increases duty by roughly $3,700, an effective marginal rate of about 37 per cent across that step.

In New South Wales the first home buyer concession is designed as a sliding rate rather than a cliff, rising from nil at $800,000 to full duty at $1,000,000. On the indicative schedule a first home buyer pays nothing at $800,000, about $9,800 at $850,000, about $19,600 at $900,000 and full duty of about $39,200 at $1,000,000. Between $800,000 and $1,000,000 the buyer therefore faces an effective marginal duty rate of roughly 20 per cent on each additional dollar of price, which is a material consideration when setting a limit at auction.

Buyers negotiating close to a threshold should know precisely where it sits. The difference is frequently larger than the sum being argued over.

Surcharges for foreign purchasers

Every state and territory imposes an additional duty surcharge on residential property acquired by foreign purchasers, generally expressed as a percentage of the dutiable value and charged in addition to ordinary duty. Rates differ by jurisdiction and have been increased several times. Separate annual land tax surcharges also apply in most jurisdictions, and Commonwealth approval through the Foreign Investment Review Board is typically required.

Definitions of a foreign person are technical and capture some trusts and companies with foreign interests, as well as some temporary residents. The figures in this article exclude these surcharges. Buyers who may be affected should obtain advice before signing a contract, because the surcharge is often larger than the duty itself.

When duty is payable and how it is paid

Duty is generally assessed on the dutiable transaction and must be paid before or at settlement, because the transfer cannot be registered until duty has been paid or an exemption processed. In practice the conveyancer or solicitor collects the amount with other settlement funds and remits it through the electronic settlement platform.

The time limits differ. Several jurisdictions require payment within three months of the contract date, while others tie the obligation to settlement. Where a contract is subject to a long settlement, this distinction matters, and interest and penalties can apply to late payment.

The critical planning point is that duty must be funded from the buyer's own resources. Lenders lend against the property, and duty does not increase the property's value, so it cannot normally be borrowed. A buyer with a $140,000 deposit on a $700,000 purchase in Victoria does not have a 20 per cent deposit once $37,070 of duty is deducted. The guide to the upfront costs of buying a home sets out the full list of items that must be funded in cash, and the deposit calculator models the position after costs.

Duty on vacant land and house and land packages

Where a buyer purchases land and builds separately, duty is generally assessed on the land alone rather than on the completed house. This is a significant structural advantage of building over buying an established home of the same finished value, and it is a large part of why several states direct first home buyer assistance towards new construction.

New South Wales, for example, exempts eligible first home buyers from duty on vacant land valued up to $350,000 and applies a concessional rate between $350,000 and $450,000. Other jurisdictions operate equivalent arrangements with their own thresholds. The saving applies only where the land and the building work are genuinely separate contracts. Where a single contract obliges the buyer to take a completed dwelling, revenue offices will generally assess duty on the full value, and anti-avoidance provisions apply to arrangements structured to look separate when they are not.

House and land packages therefore require care. The duty outcome depends on the contractual structure rather than on how the package is marketed, and it should be confirmed with a conveyancer before signing. Financing also differs, because construction is funded in stages rather than at a single settlement, as set out in the guide to construction loans and progress payments.

Other exemptions and concessions

Beyond first home buyer relief, the main categories of relief across the jurisdictions include the following. Each has conditions and none should be assumed to apply without checking.

• Off the plan concessions. Several states allow duty to be assessed on the land value, or a reduced value, where a dwelling has not yet been built. Victoria and Western Australia both operate versions of this. The guide to buying off the plan covers the wider risks of these purchases.
• New home and house and land concessions. South Australia and the Northern Territory direct first home buyer support primarily at new builds.
• Transfers between spouses and domestic partners. Usually exempt where the property is the principal place of residence, and commonly exempt where the transfer results from a breakdown of the relationship and is made under a court order or binding financial agreement.
• Deceased estates. Transfers to a beneficiary in accordance with a will are generally exempt or nominally dutiable.
• Pensioner and seniors concessions. Available in some jurisdictions, usually with price caps.
• Farm and family business transfers. Concessions exist for intergenerational transfers of primary production land in several states.

A concession is not automatic. It must generally be claimed at the time of the transaction, with a declaration and supporting evidence. Missing the claim usually means applying for a refund afterwards, which is possible but slower.

The longer term shift from duty to land tax

Transfer duty is widely criticised by economists on the grounds that taxing transactions discourages people from moving, including moving for work or downsizing. The ACT began a twenty year program in 2012 to phase out conveyance duty and replace the revenue with higher general rates, and its 2026-27 measures for first home buyers form part of that trajectory. New South Wales operated an optional annual property tax for first home buyers for a period before returning to the exemption and concession model described above.

For a buyer today the policy debate matters only to the extent that thresholds move. Because they move in state budgets, and occasionally outside them, the correct approach is to confirm the current position rather than rely on a figure remembered from a previous purchase. The government grants section summarises the assistance available and the first home buyer guide sets out the sequence of a first purchase.

Checking the current rules

Each jurisdiction publishes its own calculator and guidance, and those are the authoritative sources. A revenue office calculator will reflect the current schedule, any surcharges and the concessions available, and most allow a first home buyer declaration to be modelled. Where a purchase is close to a threshold, or where eligibility for a concession is uncertain, a conveyancer or solicitor should confirm the position before the contract is signed rather than after.

Figures in this article are indicative and calculated on 2026-27 schedules for established homes. New South Wales and the ACT re-index their schedules each year, and concessions change frequently. This is general information and not personal or tax advice. Buyers who would like the duty position modelled alongside their borrowing capacity may request a free assessment from an accredited broker.