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Stamp duty
Stamp duty — now called transfer duty in most states — is usually the largest single cost on top of your purchase price, and one of the least understood. It's a state government tax you pay when property changes hands, and how much you pay depends on where you buy, what you buy and who you are. First-home buyers, in particular, sit in a maze of grants, concessions and exemptions that can wipe out the bill entirely or barely touch it. This guide frames the whole picture: what duty is, what drives the amount, where concessions and first-home grants fit, and the timing and edge cases worth knowing before you commit. The exact rates and thresholds change and differ by state, so throughout we point you to the explainer with the current numbers rather than quoting figures that go stale.
Key takeaways
- It's a state tax on the buyer: transfer duty is set by each state, not the Commonwealth, so the rules change when you cross a border.
- It scales with value: duty is worked out on a sliding scale against the property's dutiable value, so a higher price means a disproportionately higher bill.
- Concessions can change everything: first-home, off-the-plan and other concessions can reduce or remove duty — but eligibility is strict and state-specific.
- Timing is a condition of ownership: duty is generally due around settlement, and paying it is what lets your ownership be registered.
- Some buyers pay more: foreign buyers face a surcharge on top of standard duty in the major states.
Transfer duty is a tax the buyer pays to the state government when a property's ownership transfers. It's not a fee for a service and it's not negotiable — it's revenue the state collects on the transaction itself. The reason it looms so large is scale: because it's charged as a percentage of the property's value, it grows quickly as prices rise, which is why it's often the biggest line item after the price. The explainer on what stamp duty is covers the terminology and the basics; the point to hold onto here is that duty is unavoidable for most buyers, so it belongs in your budget from day one rather than as an afterthought.
Three things move your duty bill more than anything else. Understanding them tells you where to look before assuming a number:
| Factor | Effect on your duty |
|---|---|
| Property value | Duty is calculated on a sliding scale against the dutiable value — usually the price or market value, whichever is higher — so higher-value homes attract a higher rate. |
| The state | Each state sets its own scale, thresholds and concessions, so the same price is taxed differently in NSW, QLD and VIC. |
| Who you are & what you buy | First-home buyers, off-the-plan purchasers and foreign buyers are all treated differently — some pay far less, some pay a surcharge. |
The explainer on how duty is calculated walks through the sliding-scale mechanics, and the state-by-state comparison shows how NSW, QLD and VIC differ in practice.
This is where the biggest savings — and the most confusion — live. First-home buyers may qualify for a concession or full exemption; off-the-plan and house-and-land purchases can be assessed differently, sometimes on the land value alone before you build; and there are other legitimate paths to a lower bill. But eligibility is genuinely strict and varies by state: price caps, whether you'll live in the home, whether you've owned property before, and residency status all come into play. The rule of thumb is to assume nothing and check your specific state's current criteria. Explore the exemptions and concessions explainer for who qualifies, and the legitimate ways to reduce duty for the strategies worth knowing.
It also helps to see that first-home help comes in a few separate forms — buyers often assume these are one thing, but they're assessed independently and each has its own rules:
| Type of help | What it does |
|---|---|
| Stamp duty concession or exemption | Reduces or removes the duty itself, up to value thresholds each state sets |
| First home owner grant | A state cash grant, generally for buying or building a brand-new home rather than an established one |
| Low-deposit guarantee | A federal scheme that can let eligible buyers purchase with a smaller deposit and avoid lenders mortgage insurance |
| Super savings release | A federal scheme that lets eligible buyers put certain voluntary super contributions toward a deposit |
The amounts, caps and eligibility for all of these change regularly and differ by state, so treat this as the shape of what's available and confirm the current detail for your state and situation with your conveyancer or the relevant revenue office.
Even once you know your number, a few things trip buyers up: