Stamp Duty Calculator

How Stamp Duty is Calculated

Stamp duty is a state or territory tax on a property transfer. The calculator applies the selected jurisdiction's residential duty schedule to the dutiable value, then applies your entered adjustments.

Dutiable value is usually the higher of the purchase price and the property's market value. The mortgage balance does not reduce that value. Related-party transfers and transactions involving only part of a property need their own assessment.

Most schedules combine a fixed amount with duty on the value above a threshold. Where the schedule charges for each $100 or part, even a small amount above a threshold starts the next $100 unit. Victoria uses percentage calculations, while higher-value Victorian and Australian Capital Territory transactions can use a rate on the whole value.

The rule period shown with the result is 2026–27. Contract dates outside the calculator's supported period do not produce an estimate. The contract date chooses the applicable period, which can differ from the settlement year.

State and Territory Calculations

The selector covers all eight Australian jurisdictions. These examples use a $500,000 residential purchase at the general rate, with no entered reduction or surcharge.

Revenue NSW's schedule includes a premium rate for higher-value residential land. The Queensland Revenue Office's general schedule differs from its home-concession schedule. An eligible Queensland buyer at $500,000 pays $8,750 at the home rate before any further first-home reduction.

In Victoria, the principal place of residence rate has its own value limits. The eligible home-rate result at $500,000 is $21,970. The RevenueWA schedule has a separate concessional rate for a qualifying principal residence whose entire value is no more than $200,000.

RevenueSA's conveyance rates and Tasmania's property-transfer rates apply their published $100-or-part bands. Tasmania includes a $50 minimum in its lowest band. Eligible relief is entered separately.

The ACT Revenue Office's owner-occupier schedule produces $8,408 at $500,000 when its occupancy conditions are met. The Northern Territory Stamp Duty Act, Schedule 1 uses a quadratic formula up to $525,000, then whole-value percentage rates. At $600,000, the NT general duty is $29,700.

First-Home Concessions and Surcharges

A first-home concession reduces duty only when the buyer and transaction meet the scheme's conditions. Property value alone does not establish eligibility. A first-home owner grant is a separate payment and must not be entered as a duty reduction.

Eligibility can depend on each buyer's previous property ownership, citizenship or residence status and whether a spouse has owned property. New homes, existing homes and vacant land can have different limits. Occupancy requirements can also specify when a buyer must move in and how long they must stay.

The eligible home-rate option applies the ordinary home schedule for Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia or the ACT where available within its value limit. It does not decide first-home eligibility. For vacant land, the tool keeps the general rate and any separately assessed relief is entered as an additional duty reduction.

Use the additional duty reduction field for the difference between the selected base duty and the duty payable after the concession. If the selected home rate already includes an ordinary home concession, enter only the further reduction. For a full exemption, enter the base duty as the reduction.

Foreign-purchaser duty can apply in addition to ordinary transfer duty. The legal definition of a foreign person and any exemption can depend on residence status, ownership share or the buying entity. Enter the surcharge amount assessed for the transaction in the additional purchaser duty field. A concession against base duty does not automatically remove that surcharge.

Revenue offices publish scheme conditions alongside their schedules. Queensland's home-concession rules explain the distinction between the home rate and further first-home relief. The NSW First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme has separate home and vacant-land rules.

A Purchase-Cost Example

For the starting example, an ordinary NSW residential purchase has a dutiable value of $750,000. General duty is $11,602 plus 4.5% of the $363,000 above the threshold, giving $27,937.00. The example includes no concession or purchaser surcharge.

A buyer funding a hypothetical $150,000 deposit therefore needs $177,937 for the deposit and duty together. Transfer registration, mortgage registration, conveyancing and finance fees are separate costs. Add any lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) premium according to whether it is paid upfront or included in the loan.

Stamp duty and LMI fund different costs. Duty is paid for the property transfer, while LMI protects the lender when that insurance is required. The duty result does not estimate an LMI premium or the buyer's complete cash requirement.

As a second example, Queensland general duty on $950,000 is $17,325 plus $18,450, totalling $35,775. A buyer eligible for the ordinary home rate pays $28,600 before any further first-home relief. Selecting a home rate therefore changes the base calculation before entered adjustments.