First Home Buyer Stamp Duty Exemptions by State

A first home buyer stamp duty exemption removes the ordinary property duty on an eligible purchase. A concession reduces that duty, sometimes to zero, depending on the jurisdiction’s rules. First home buyers still pay duty when their property, value or personal circumstances fall outside the available relief.

The property location and purchase date decide which pathway applies. A first-home loan approval, cash grant or government guarantee doesn’t establish duty eligibility. Work out the duty separately before finalising the cash needed to settle.

Choose the Purchase Jurisdiction

Use the state or territory where the property is located, regardless of where the buyer currently lives. Then identify whether the transaction buys an established home, a new home or vacant land for construction. A house and land package can have its own transaction requirements.

Record the date contracts are signed or exchanged and the expected settlement date. The authority’s scheme decides which date matters. For example, Tasmania’s former established-home exemption depends on settlement timing, while Western Australia’s rates depend on the agreement date.

Identify every purchaser’s ownership share and any spouse or domestic partner whose history affects eligibility. Include citizenship, residence plans and previous property ownership. A buyer’s description of themselves as a first home buyer is a starting point, not a completed duty assessment.

The comparison below links each jurisdiction to its revenue authority. For a transaction outside the listed pathway, budget for duty under the ordinary assessment unless another applicable relief is established. Give unusual ownership structures or disputed eligibility to the conveyancer, solicitor or revenue authority with the transaction documents.

Compare First-Home Duty Pathways

First-home duty relief differs by property type, value and transaction date. The pathways below were last checked on 3 October 2026. All dollar thresholds are Australian dollars and assume the purchaser meets the relevant eligibility conditions.

An exemption removes the duty covered by the scheme. A concession reduces it, but a full concession can also produce a nil result. Queensland uses that term for its eligible new-home pathway.

A stamp duty waiver isn’t a separate national first-home scheme. Use the authority’s named exemption, concession or relief and its application process. A nil ordinary-duty result can still leave a foreign purchaser surcharge or another transaction charge payable.

Jurisdiction	Pathway and current property scope	Main date or value condition	Application and evidence route
New South Wales (NSW)	First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme: exemption or concession for new homes, established homes and vacant land to build a home	For contracts exchanged from 1 July 2023: homes up to $800,000 exempt, above $800,000 and below $1 million concessional. Land up to $350,000 exempt, above $350,000 and below $450,000 concessional	Revenue NSW scheme guidance. Lodge the scheme application, purchaser declaration and identity documents with the solicitor or conveyancer
Victoria	First home buyer duty exemption or concession: new or established homes and vacant land for a first home	For contracts from 1 July 2017: dutiable value up to $600,000 exempt, $600,001 to $750,000 concessional	State Revenue Office eligibility guidance. Use the Digital Duties Form with contract and title documents
Queensland	First home concession for established homes. Separate first home (new home) and first home vacant land concessions	Established homes: nil duty up to $700,000, reduced duty above that and below $800,000, for agreements from 9 June 2024. Eligible new homes and residential vacant land: full concession without a value cap from 1 May 2025	Queensland Revenue Office’s established-home, new-home or vacant-land route. Home claims use Form D2.1. Land claims use Form D2.7
Western Australia	First home owner rate of duty: eligible homes with their land (including established homes) and vacant land for construction	Agreements from 7 May 2026: home and land up to $600,000 nil, $600,001 to $800,000 concessional. Vacant land up to $450,000 nil, $450,001 to $550,000 concessional	RevenueWA’s rate and application guide. Apply for approval or pre-approval, then provide the approval, duty form and transaction record for assessment
South Australia	Stamp Duty Relief for Eligible First Home Buyers: new homes, off-the-plan apartments and vacant land to build a new home. Established homes aren’t in this pathway	Full relief without a property value cap for contracts from 6 June 2024. Contracts from 13 February 2025 have stricter prior-ownership rules	RevenueSA eligibility and evidence guidance and relief by contract period. Usually lodged by the settlement representative with purchaser and partner documents
Tasmania	First home buyers of established homes duty relief: the 100% exemption period has ended	The exemption applied to eligible established homes up to $750,000 settling from 18 February 2024 to 30 June 2026. It is unavailable for settlements after 30 June 2026	State Revenue Office Tasmania’s duty-relief page. Earlier eligible transactions use the relief application and contract evidence, including the transfer instrument where available
Australian Capital Territory (ACT)	Home Buyer Concession Scheme: eligible new homes, established homes and vacant residential land	For transaction dates from 1 July 2026, nil conveyance duty with no property value or income limit. Prior-ownership and residence requirements remain	ACT Revenue Office scheme guidance and codes and supporting documents. Claim through the Buyer Verification Declaration and retain supporting records
Northern Territory	House and Land Package Exemption: an eligible single transaction with a building contractor for land and a detached new home. This isn’t a general established-home exemption or a first-home-only pathway	Contracts from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2027. No property value cap or means test. The contractor’s land acquisition and duty payment must meet the scheme conditions	Northern Territory Government exemption guidance. Provide the application, vendor declaration and supporting documents to the Territory Revenue Office or settlement representative

In NSW, the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme gives a full exemption at $800,000 but a concession above that value and below $1 million. A $1 million home falls outside those home thresholds.

Revenue NSW’s NSW stamp duty guidance explains the wider transfer-duty assessment. Use the First Home Buyers Assistance calculator linked from the scheme guide to calculate the exemption or concession for the purchase.

For Queensland transactions from 1 August 2026, the first-home concession routes also require the applicable citizenship or residency status. The new-home concession covers the residential part of a property. Additional non-residential land can still attract duty.

For older purchases, use the date-specific rules rather than applying this table retrospectively. A search for a 2025 first-home stamp duty exemption can lead to rates that have since changed. Western Australia’s May 2026 thresholds and the ACT’s July 2026 changes show why the contract date matters.

Use the ACT stamp duty guide for the full ACT calculation and evidence process. The Tasmania stamp duty guide covers the ordinary calculation and earlier relief periods. A Tasmanian contract signed before the exemption ended doesn’t preserve it if settlement occurs after 30 June 2026.

Verify Eligibility and Evidence

Gather the purchaser and transaction facts before treating an official calculator result as money saved at settlement. A calculator estimates duty from its inputs. It doesn’t establish that a buyer’s ownership history or future residence meets the scheme.

Keep the following records together in the purchase file.

• Record every buyer’s legal name, date of birth, citizenship or residency evidence and share being acquired.
• Ask about previous ownership, including part ownership, inherited interests and overseas property where the jurisdiction’s rules cover it. Include the spouse or partner’s history when required.
• Record any previous grant, concession or exemption claimed. Apply the relevant jurisdiction’s test to that history.
• Keep the signed contract, exchange date, settlement date and any variations. For construction, keep the land and building contracts separately.
• Establish whether the home is new, established or substantially renovated. Obtain seller evidence where the scheme requires it.
• Record the purchase price, market value where required and the portion used for residential purposes. Identify any foreign purchaser surcharge separately.
• Set out the intended move-in date and required occupation period. Retain evidence of actual residence as it becomes available.
• Save the applicable scheme page, calculation inputs, result and lodged declaration or application. Keep the assessment and settlement representative’s duty figure with the funds-to-complete worksheet.

Residence periods aren’t interchangeable. Under Revenue NSW’s rules as at October 2026, eligible home buyers must move in within 12 months of settlement and occupy for 12 continuous months. Victoria’s rules as at October 2026 also require 12 continuous months, with distinct commencement rules for vacant land.

A buyer who plans to rent the entire property from settlement can’t rely on an owner-occupation declaration they won’t fulfil. Where a change in circumstances affects a claimed concession, follow that authority’s notification and reassessment process.

Funds to complete means the cash needed to settle after accounting for the loan and amounts already paid. Use the duty actually payable, including any remaining duty under a partial concession and any separate surcharge. Record an anticipated refund separately from cash available for settlement.

Western Australia’s approval timing shows the difference. RevenueWA’s guidance as at October 2026 requires general-rate duty at or before settlement if grant approval or first-home rate pre-approval isn’t in place. An eligible later reassessment can refund overpaid duty, but the initial payment still needs funding.

In a hypothetical file, a buyer needs $70,000 toward the price and $8,000 for other costs. Assume the ordinary duty estimate is $25,000 and a later refund is expected. Without relief applied at settlement, the buyer needs $103,000, not $78,000.

For an unresolved claim, retain a duty-inclusive budget and show the concession amount as conditional. If only one ownership share qualifies, use the jurisdiction’s mixed-purchaser assessment. Escalate the exact eligibility issue with the contract and ownership records before reducing the amount the buyer must have available.

Separate Other First-Home Support

Duty relief reduces a property tax, while other first-home support changes a different part of the purchase funding. Assess each pathway separately, even when the same buyer can receive more than one benefit.

Support	What it changes	What it establishes about stamp duty
First Home Owner Grant	A cash payment under a state or territory programme	Grant approval alone doesn’t establish duty relief. Use the first home owner grant guide for the separate jurisdiction assessment
Federal low-deposit guarantee	Government support for an eligible loan, reducing the required deposit without lenders mortgage insurance	A guarantee doesn’t waive state or territory duty. Use the Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme guide for loan eligibility
Shared-equity programme	A government or other participant contributes toward the purchase and holds an equity interest	Ownership structure and duty need their own assessment. The Australian Government Help to Buy Scheme is a separate federal route
Lender promotion	A lender-specific fee saving, insurance waiver or other loan benefit	A lender’s waived charge doesn’t remove the jurisdiction’s transfer duty

The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme, as at October 2026, includes a route for eligible single parents and legal guardians. Searches using the former Family Home Guarantee name concern loan support, not an automatic stamp duty exemption.

A first home owners grant search for Queensland, Victoria, South Australia or Western Australia can therefore produce two different eligibility tasks. Start the duty assessment with the property’s row above. Add grant or loan support to the funding worksheet only after recording its own eligibility and payment timing.

Before finalising funds to complete, obtain the settlement duty amount for the correct transaction and keep any later refund outside the cash available on settlement day.