Stamp Duty Calculator SA

How stamp duty works in South Australia

South Australia is one of the few jurisdictions that still uses the term stamp duty in its legislation. The charge is imposed under the Stamp Duties Act 1923 and administered by RevenueSA, which sits within the Department of Treasury and Finance. It applies when residential land or primary production land is conveyed, and it is paid by the purchaser. RevenueSA notes that conveyances of land used for non-residential and non-primary production purposes executed on or after 1 July 2018 are generally exempt, so for a home buyer the residential scale is the one that matters.

Duty is assessed on the greater of the price paid and the market value of the property. For an ordinary sale between unrelated parties at arm's length, those two figures are normally the same. The distinction becomes important when property passes between family members, when part of a property is transferred, or when a price has been set below market value, because RevenueSA may then assess duty on the higher market value.

A distinctive feature of South Australia is that it has one scale for residential conveyances. There is no separate owner-occupier rate, as there is in Queensland or the Australian Capital Territory, and there is no general concession for principal places of residence, as there is in Victoria at lower values. An investor and a family buying their own established home at the same price pay the same duty. For this reason the calculator on this page returns the same figure for each buyer type whenever the property is an established home.

The South Australia stamp duty scale explained

The scale reproduced above rises through nine brackets. The marginal rate climbs from 1% on the first $12,000 to 5.5% on every dollar above $500,000. The top threshold of $500,000 has not been indexed for many years, so a large share of homes in Adelaide now sit wholly within the top bracket, and each additional $10,000 of price adds $550 of duty.

Some worked figures illustrate the effect, before any rounding adjustments. A home at $500,000 attracts duty of $21,330. At $600,000 the figure is $21,330 plus 5.5% of $100,000, which is $26,830. At $700,000 it is $32,330, and at $800,000 it is $37,830. A home at $1,000,000 attracts $48,830, so duty represents almost 4.9% of the price at that level. These figures apply equally to first home buyers purchasing established homes, owner-occupiers and investors.

RevenueSA expresses each rate as an amount for every $100 or part of $100. In practice this means the value above the relevant threshold is rounded up to the next whole $100 before the rate is applied. The difference is small, at most a few dollars, but it explains why the figure on a settlement statement may not match an online estimate exactly. RevenueSA publishes its own stamp duty conveyance calculator, and the figure it produces, or the figure assessed through RevenueSA Online, is the one that must be paid.

First home buyer stamp duty relief in South Australia

South Australia offers full stamp duty relief to eligible first home buyers, but only for new homes and land on which a new home will be built. According to RevenueSA, full relief is available where an eligible first home buyer enters into a contract on or after 6 June 2024 to buy a new home, an off-the-plan apartment, vacant land, or house and land under a comprehensive building contract. For those contracts there is no property value cap, so the relief applies whatever the market value of the new home or the land.

The date of the contract determines which rules apply. For contracts entered into between 15 June 2023 and 5 June 2024, value caps applied, and a new home with a market value of $700,000 or more, or vacant land with a market value of $450,000 or more, did not qualify for relief. A buyer who signed within that earlier period remains subject to those rules even if settlement occurred later.

The eligibility rules have also changed over time. For contracts entered into on or after 13 February 2025, RevenueSA states that a buyer is not eligible if the buyer or the buyer's spouse or domestic partner owns or has owned a relevant interest in residential property anywhere in Australia. For contracts entered into between 15 June 2023 and 12 February 2025, a buyer who had previously owned residential property might still have qualified if the buyer had lived in that property for less than six continuous months. The spouse or domestic partner's details must be disclosed on the application even when that person is not buying the property.

Relief comes with a residence requirement. All applicants must live in the home as their principal place of residence for a continuous period of at least six months. For a new home, that period must begin within 12 months after settlement. For vacant land, it must begin within 12 months after the home built on it is ready for occupation. If the requirement is not met, RevenueSA may reassess the transaction and recover the duty that was not paid.

No relief for established homes in South Australia

The most important point for many South Australian first home buyers is that there is no stamp duty concession for an established home. A first home buyer who purchases an existing house, unit or townhouse pays duty at the full scale, exactly as an investor would. On a $600,000 established home that is $26,830, an amount that must usually be found in cash on top of the deposit.

This makes the choice between new and established property more significant in South Australia than in states such as New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland or Western Australia, where first home buyers of established homes receive an exemption or concession below a price threshold. A first home buyer comparing a new townhouse with an established home at a similar price in Adelaide may find the difference in upfront costs is tens of thousands of dollars once stamp duty and the First Home Owner Grant are both taken into account.

That difference does not by itself make a new home the better choice. Location, land size, build quality, strata arrangements, resale demand and construction risk all affect the long-term outcome, and a lower upfront cost does not guarantee a better result. The duty saving is, however, a real and quantifiable factor, and it is appropriate to calculate it before comparing properties.

Other South Australian relief is narrow in scope. The Seniors Downsizing Stamp Duty Relief, introduced for eligible contracts entered into on or after 25 March 2026, is available to applicants aged 60 and over who sell their principal place of residence and move to a new home, an off-the-plan apartment or vacant land with a smaller land size. RevenueSA states that full relief may apply where the dutiable value of a new home or off-the-plan apartment is $2 million or less. RevenueSA also lists the earlier off-the-plan apartment concession among its previous grants and relief, so it does not apply to contracts signed today.

Foreign ownership surcharge in South Australia

Foreign persons and foreign trusts that acquire an interest in residential land in South Australia pay a foreign ownership surcharge of 7% of the value of the interest acquired. The surcharge applies in addition to ordinary stamp duty, is calculated on the same value used for duty purposes, and is paid at the same time as the duty.

The combined cost is considerable. On a $600,000 home, a foreign purchaser would pay ordinary duty of $26,830 plus a surcharge of $42,000, a total of $68,830 before any rounding. The definition of a foreign person for surcharge purposes follows the rules in the legislation and is not identical to a person's visa status, so a buyer who is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or who is buying through a company or trust with foreign interests, should confirm the position with RevenueSA or a conveyancer before signing. RevenueSA notes that the Treasurer may grant ex gratia relief from the surcharge, on a case by case basis, for significant developments that add to housing supply. The calculator on this page does not apply the surcharge.

When South Australian stamp duty is paid and how it is lodged

In a standard residential purchase, stamp duty in South Australia becomes payable at settlement, when the property is transferred into the buyer's name. Duty must be paid before the transfer can be registered, so in practice the amount is included in the funds that the buyer's conveyancer or solicitor arranges for settlement.

Most South Australian conveyances are handled through RevenueSA Online, the portal used by conveyancers, solicitors and other registered users. For many standard transfers the representative self-determines the duty in the system, which calculates the amount from the details entered. Some transactions must instead be submitted to the Commissioner of State Taxation for assessment, together with supporting documents. Applications for first home buyer relief are lodged in RevenueSA Online by selecting the first home buyer relief option on a conveyance of land and confirming whether the property is a new home or vacant land.

In most cases a conveyancer or solicitor lodges the relief application on the buyer's behalf, using the Application for Stamp Duty Relief for Eligible First Home Buyers completed by the buyer and any supporting documents. RevenueSA also accepts applications directly from buyers who are not using a representative. Because the relief depends on the contract date and on facts about every applicant and any spouse or partner, it is sensible to confirm eligibility with the conveyancer well before settlement rather than on the day.

How South Australian stamp duty affects the deposit and LMI

Lenders generally expect a buyer to meet stamp duty and other purchase costs from their own funds, in addition to the deposit. Duty is not normally added to the loan in the way that lenders mortgage insurance can be. A buyer of a $600,000 established home in Adelaide who wants a 20% deposit would therefore need $120,000 for the deposit plus $26,830 for duty, before conveyancing fees, registration fees, building and pest inspections, and loan costs.

Where a buyer has less than a 20% deposit, lenders mortgage insurance is usually payable, and the premium rises as the loan to value ratio rises. Every dollar spent on stamp duty is a dollar that cannot be used as deposit, so in South Australia, where established home buyers receive no relief, duty can push a buyer into a higher LMI band or delay a purchase while additional savings are accumulated.

Several arrangements can reduce the effect. The federal 5% Deposit Scheme allows eligible first home buyers to buy with a 5% deposit without paying LMI, up to the price caps that apply in Adelaide and regional South Australia. HomeStart Finance, the South Australian Government lender, offers home loans that do not require LMI. For buyers of new homes, full duty relief removes the cost altogether and leaves more savings for the deposit. The South Australia government grants page on this site explains how these options interact, and an accredited broker can compare lenders for an individual situation.