What is stamp duty in Australia?

Stamp duty (formally transfer duty) is a state-level tax paid when you buy property, shares, or certain other assets. For residential property it's the largest single tax on the purchase, often tens of thousands of dollars on top of the price. Each of the 8 Australian jurisdictions sets its own rates and concessions.

How is stamp duty calculated?

Most states use tiered (progressive) bands: a fixed base amount plus a percentage of the price above the band's lower threshold. Some states (VIC above $960k, ACT above $1.455M, NT in higher tiers) use a flat percentage on the entire dutiable value, not a tiered formula. This calculator handles both correctly.

Do first home buyers pay stamp duty?

Often not, or only a reduced amount. NSW exempts FHBs on properties up to $800,000 with a sliding concession to $1M. VIC exempts up to $600k, sliding to $750k. QLD exempts up to $700k. WA up to $450k, sliding to $600k. SA up to $650k. TAS gives a 50% concession up to $750k. ACT runs an income-tested Home Buyer Concession Scheme. NT has its own First Home Owner Discount.

Are foreign buyer surcharges included?

No — this calculator covers Australian-resident buyers only. Foreign buyers pay additional surcharges that vary by state (NSW +9%, VIC +8% as of 2024/25). Check the relevant state revenue office for the foreign buyer rate.

What about off-the-plan / new-build / vacant land concessions?

These exist in several states and significantly change the calculation. They're NOT modelled here — verify eligibility and exact duty with your conveyancer or the state revenue office before signing a contract.

When do I pay stamp duty?

Typically within 3 months of settlement, though several states require payment earlier (NSW: 3 months from the contract date or before settlement, whichever is earlier; VIC: 30 days from settlement). Your conveyancer normally lodges and pays on your behalf.

Is this calculator official?

No — it's a maths tool. Rates are sourced from each state revenue office's published 2024/25 figures, but always verify with the official calculator before a transaction (Revenue NSW, SRO Victoria, Queensland Revenue Office, RevenueWA, RevenueSA, State Revenue Office Tasmania, ACT Revenue Office, NT Revenue).

Australian Stamp Duty Calculator

Transfer duty — almost everyone calls it stamp duty — is the single largest tax you pay when buying a home in Australia, and every state and territory sets its own. This calculator covers all eight jurisdictions (NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, SA, TAS, ACT and NT) at 2025/26 rates, applies the first-home-buyer concession where you qualify, and adds the foreign-buyer surcharge when it applies. Enter a price, pick a state, and see the duty payable, your effective rate, and exactly how the figure is built up band by band.

What stamp duty actually is — and why it matters so much

Stamp duty (officially transfer duty in most states, or land transfer duty in Victoria) is a one-off state tax triggered when the title to a property changes hands. The buyer pays it, not the seller, and in almost all cases it has to be paid in cash at or shortly after settlement — it cannot be rolled into the mortgage. That is why the real amount of savings you need is well above the headline 10% or 20% deposit.

The numbers are not small. On a median capital-city house, duty commonly lands between $20,000 and $60,000. For most buyers it is the second-largest cash sum they have to find after the deposit. It is also the biggest source of tax revenue the states control directly, which is why — despite decades of economists arguing it should be replaced by a broad-based annual land tax that does not punish people for moving — it has proved very hard to abolish.

How the duty is calculated: tiered bands vs. flat-rate cliffs

Six of the eight jurisdictions use a tiered (progressive) scale, much like income tax. You do not pay one flat percentage on the whole price. Instead each slice of the price is taxed at its own marginal rate, written as a fixed base amount plus a percentage on the portion above a threshold.

Take a $400,000 purchase in NSW. The 2025/26 schedule reaches a base of $11,152 at the $372,000 threshold, then charges 4.5% on every dollar above it:

Base at the $372,000 threshold: $11,152
Plus 4.5% × ($400,000 − $372,000) = 4.5% × $28,000 = $1,260
Duty = $11,152 + $1,260 = $12,412, an effective rate of about 3.1%.

The marginal rate keeps climbing — 5.5% above $1.24M and 7% in the NSW “premium” band above $3.721M — which is why effective rates creep up as prices rise.

Two jurisdictions break the pattern with flat-rate cliffs at the top end. Victoria charges a flat 5.5% on the entire dutiable value once it sits between $960,001 and $2,000,000, so a $1,200,000 Melbourne apartment pays 5.5% × $1,200,000 = $66,000 outright, not a blended figure. The ACT does the same with a flat 4.54% above $1,455,000. The Northern Territory is different again: for values up to $525,000 it uses an official polynomial formula, then switches to flat percentages above that. This calculator handles all three behaviours.

State-by-state guide (2025/26)

Every jurisdiction runs its own rate schedule, thresholds and quirks. Here is the shape of each one for an owner-occupier buying an established home:

NSW: Progressive scale rising to 5.5% above $1.24M, plus a 7% premium band above $3.721M. First-home buyers are fully exempt up to $800,000, with a sliding concession to $1,000,000.
VIC: Progressive principal-place-of-residence rates at the lower end, but a flat 5.5% cliff on the whole value between $960,001 and $2,000,000 and 6.5% above that. First-home buyers are exempt up to $600,000, sliding to $750,000.
QLD: A concessional “home” scale (lower than the general/investor rate) topping out at 5.75% above $1,000,000. First-home buyers are exempt up to $700,000 (raised from $500,000 in mid-2024), sliding to $800,000.
WA: Separate metropolitan and regional thresholds. The first-home concession was reformed on 21 March 2025: full exemption up to $500,000, then a fixed per-$100 rate on the portion above, to $700,000 (Perth/Peel) or $750,000 (rest of state).
SA: Removed the value cap on its first-home relief on 6 June 2024 — but only for new homes, off-the-plan apartments and vacant land. Buyers of established homes still pay full standard duty.
TAS: A 100% first-home exemption on established homes up to $750,000 — but it is time-limited to contracts signed by 30 June 2026. Verify whether it has been extended before relying on it.
ACT: A flat 4.54% cliff above $1,455,000. Instead of a price cap, first-home help runs through the income-tested Home Buyer Concession Scheme — eligibility depends on household income, not just the price.
NT: Uses the official polynomial formula up to $525,000, then flat rates. First-home help comes via the First Home Owner Discount. NT and the ACT are the only two jurisdictions with no foreign-buyer surcharge.

First-home buyer concessions — who qualifies and how much you save

First-home concessions are the biggest lever on the final number, and they are not automatic — you generally have to move in within 12 months and live there for 6–12 months, be 18 or over, and never have owned residential property in Australia before. The mechanics differ by state: some give a clean full exemption below a threshold, some taper the saving with a sliding scale, and a couple use a fixed per-$100 rate on the slice above the exemption line rather than a smooth ramp.

NSW: Full exemption ≤ $800,000; linear concession $800,000–$1,000,000.
VIC: Full exemption ≤ $600,000; sliding concession $600,000–$750,000.
QLD: Full exemption ≤ $700,000; sliding concession $700,000–$800,000.
WA: Full exemption ≤ $500,000; fixed per-$100 rate above, to $700,000 (metro) or $750,000 (regional).
SA: No value cap, but new homes / off-the-plan / vacant land only.
TAS: 100% exemption on established homes ≤ $750,000 (time-limited to 30 June 2026).
ACT: Income-tested Home Buyer Concession Scheme rather than a price cap.
NT: First Home Owner Discount (verify the current amount with NT Revenue).

Toggle First-home buyer in the calculator to apply the relevant rule. Because eligibility tests (residency, income, prior ownership) vary, treat the result as the best case for someone who qualifies cleanly.

Foreign buyer surcharges

Buyers who are not Australian citizens or permanent residents pay an additional surcharge on top of standard duty. Six of the eight jurisdictions levy one; the ACT and NT do not. The surcharge is charged on the full purchase price, so it dwarfs the base duty at higher prices.

NSW: 9% (raised from 8% on 1 January 2025)
VIC: 8%
QLD: 8% (Additional Foreign Acquirer Duty)
WA: 7%
SA: 7% — and first-home relief does not apply to foreign buyers
TAS: 8% on residential property
ACT / NT: No purchase surcharge

The impact is brutal. On a $1,000,000 home in NSW, an Australian buyer pays about $39,400 in duty. A foreign buyer pays that plus a 9% surcharge of $90,000 — roughly $129,400 all up. Toggle Foreign buyer to add it.

Worked examples

$900,000 home in NSW, standard buyer — $11,152 + 4.5% × ($900,000 − $372,000) = $34,912 (3.88% effective).
$900,000 home in NSW, first-home buyer — the $800k–$1M concession roughly halves it to about $17,500.
$1,200,000 apartment in VIC, standard — falls in the $960k–$2M flat band: 5.5% × $1,200,000 = $66,000.
$650,000 home in QLD, first-home buyer — under the $700k threshold, full exemption: $0 (a saving of roughly $15,000).
$650,000 home in TAS, first-home buyer — established-home exemption up to $750k applies: $0.

The costs people forget to budget for

Stamp duty is the big one, but it is not the only government or settlement cost at purchase. Budgeting only for the deposit and the duty is the most common way buyers come up short at settlement. On top of duty, expect:

Land transfer / registration fee — a few hundred dollars to register the new title.
Mortgage registration fee — another small fixed state fee to register the lender's mortgage.
Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) — if your deposit is under 20%, this can run to several thousand dollars and is separate from duty.
Conveyancing / legal fees — typically $1,000–$2,500.
Building and pest inspection — a few hundred dollars before you commit.

Critically, in most states duty must be paid before or at settlement and generally cannot be borrowed against the property, so it has to come from your own funds alongside the deposit.

When it's due, who pays, and whether it's deductible

Who pays?: The buyer, every time. It is a one-off cost at purchase, not an annual one.
When is it due?: Usually within about three months of settlement, but several states require it earlier — NSW within three months of the contract date or before settlement (whichever is first); VIC at settlement. Your conveyancer normally lodges and pays it for you.
Is it tax-deductible?: Not on your own home. On an investment property it is not deductible up front either — instead it forms part of the property's cost base and reduces your capital gains tax when you eventually sell.

What this calculator models — and what it doesn't

The calculator applies each state's published 2025/26 standard residential scale, the first-home concession, and the foreign-buyer surcharge. To keep the result trustworthy rather than falsely precise, it deliberately does not model:

Off-the-plan apartment concessions (VIC, NSW), which can dramatically lower duty on early-stage purchases.
Pensioner and seniors concessions.
Every vacant-land nuance, and investor-specific rate schedules (e.g. QLD's higher general rate, VIC's non-PPR rates).
Commercial property, which uses different tables.

It is a maths tool, not legal or financial advice. Rates were checked against each state revenue office's published figures, but always confirm the exact duty with your conveyancer or the official state calculator (Revenue NSW, SRO Victoria, Queensland Revenue Office, RevenueWA, RevenueSA, SRO Tasmania, ACT Revenue Office, NT Revenue) before signing a contract.

Frequently asked questions

Can I avoid stamp duty altogether?: Generally no, but first-home buyers, pensioners and buyers of new/off-the-plan homes can reduce or eliminate it. A few states have trialled letting first-home buyers opt into an annual land tax instead of an up-front duty — check whether that option currently exists in your state.
Is stamp duty the same in every state?: No — the rates, thresholds, concessions and even the name differ in all eight jurisdictions. That is the whole reason this calculator asks for your state first.
Do I pay duty on the land or the total price?: On the dutiable value, which for a normal established-home purchase is the contract price. Off-the-plan and house-and-land arrangements can be assessed differently.
Are off-the-plan apartments cheaper for duty?: Often, in VIC and NSW, because duty can be assessed on the value at the contract date (land plus construction so far) rather than the finished price. Those concessions are not modelled here.
Is this calculator official?: No. It is an independent tool for estimating and understanding duty. The authoritative figure always comes from your state revenue office.