Off-the-Plan Stamp Duty by State and Territory

Off-the-plan stamp duty has no single Australian rule. The state or territory, contract date and buyer’s circumstances decide the amount and when payment is due. A delayed settlement doesn’t automatically delay duty.

This guide covers general broker preparation, not tax or legal advice. The revenue authority and your client’s solicitor, conveyancer or tax adviser determine transaction-specific eligibility and legal treatment.

Start With the State, Contract and Buyer

Start an off-the-plan stamp duty check with the signed contract and the buyer’s intended use of the property. A developer’s advertised saving doesn’t establish your client’s entitlement.

Record these inputs before preparing the duty allowance.

• State or territory where the property sits.
• Contract signing and exchange dates, including any replacement contract.
• Each purchaser’s identity, citizenship or residency status and whether a company or trust is involved.
• First-home ownership history and intended occupancy.
• Property form, including strata common property, unit title or survey-strata title.
• Construction stage at contract date and the work still to occur.
• Expected completion, settlement and title-registration dates.

Separate an off-the-plan-specific rule from broader home-buyer assistance. New South Wales has a payment deferral. Victoria can reduce dutiable value, which is the amount used to calculate duty.

Queensland’s home concessions depend on the buyer and property, even when the home is bought off the plan.

A first-home owner grant is a separate payment. It doesn’t establish a stamp duty exemption, and its payment date can differ from the duty due date. Use the first-home owner grants guide for the wider assistance comparison.

Compare Current Rules by State and Territory

The table records official treatment checked on 3 October 2026. Apply the contract period that covers the actual purchase, including older contracts still awaiting settlement.

Jurisdiction and revenue authority	Off-the-plan-specific treatment	Transactions covered and separate relief	Official conditions
New South Wales: Revenue NSW	Verified payment deferral, not an automatic duty saving	Eligible residential purchases intended as the buyer’s home. First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme relief is separate.	Off-the-plan purchases
Victoria: State Revenue Office	Verified ordinary concession and temporary strata concession	Ordinary eligible home purchases. Temporary concession covers strata dwellings with common property, including eligible investor purchases.	Ordinary concession and temporary concession
Queensland: Queensland Revenue Office	No off-the-plan-specific duty reduction verified in its current concession list	Separate home, first home, first home (new home) and first home vacant land concessions. Conditional-contract lodgement extensions can affect timing.	Home concessions and conditional-agreement ruling
Western Australia: RevenueWA	Verified off-the-plan duty concession	Eligible pre-construction or under-construction dwellings in strata and community titles schemes, with land schemes included for qualifying later contracts.	Off-the-plan duty concession
South Australia: RevenueSA	No general off-the-plan-specific concession verified for new contracts	Broader first-home buyer relief covers eligible new homes, off-the-plan apartments and vacant land.	First-home buyer relief
Tasmania: State Revenue Office	Verified concession for qualifying earlier contracts. Closed to contracts after 30 June 2026.	Eligible off-the-plan strata or conjoined dwellings within the closed contract window. Other concessions have separate conditions.	Apartment or unit concession
Australian Capital Territory (ACT): ACT Revenue Office	Verified Off the Plan Unit Duty Exemption	Eligible individual owner-occupiers buying unit-titled apartments or townhouses.	Unit duty exemption
Northern Territory: Territory Revenue Office	No general off-the-plan-specific concession verified in its current duty guidance	Separate House and Land Package Exemption covers qualifying single-transaction purchases from a building contractor.	Current duty schemes and package exemption

An apartment concession doesn’t automatically cover a detached house. A scheme available to investors in one state doesn’t establish eligibility for an investor elsewhere.

Check the Concession, Exemption or Deferral

Identify what the rule changes before reducing the client’s cash allowance. These four treatments have different effects.

Treatment	What changes	Effect on cash planning
Reduced dutiable value	Duty is calculated on a lower permitted value	Obtain the vendor’s construction information and the resulting assessment. The contract price remains payable.
Reduced duty	A concession reduces the calculated duty	Reserve the net duty after the concession, including any separate surcharge.
Exemption	Qualifying duty is removed	Record the accepted exemption and continuing conditions. Registration fees and other costs remain.
Deferral	Payment moves to a later date	Keep the full assessed duty reserved for its due date. A deferral creates no saving by itself.

New South Wales Deferral

As checked on 3 October 2026, each purchaser must meet Revenue NSW’s citizenship or residency test. Trusts, corporations and purchases involving a foreign person are excluded. The contract must provide for a residence to be built before completion.

Vacant land alone doesn’t qualify.

For contracts exchanged from 1 July 2023, at least one purchaser must move in within 12 months after settlement. They must occupy it continuously for at least 12 months. The deferral requires an application and supporting declarations.

Losing eligibility can restore the original payment deadline and cause interest or penalty tax.

Victoria’s Ordinary and Temporary Concessions

Victoria’s ordinary concession deducts eligible construction costs incurred after the contract date. For contracts from 1 July 2023, the resulting value must be no more than $750,000 for first-home buyers. Other eligible principal-residence buyers have a $550,000 limit.

At least one purchaser must move in within 12 months of settlement and stay for 12 continuous months.

The temporary concession covers contracts from 21 October 2024 and before 21 April 2027. It requires a strata subdivision with common property. Investors, companies and trusts can qualify, without a value cap or residence requirement.

Settlement after the contract window doesn’t remove eligibility. Foreign purchaser additional duty uses the value before this deduction.

These rules were checked on 3 October 2026. The vendor supplies construction details for the Digital Duties Form. A later purchase with more construction completed generally leaves less construction cost to deduct.

Western Australia’s Construction-Stage Bands

For qualifying Western Australian contracts from 12 March 2026 to 30 June 2028, the pre-construction concession is 100% up to $800,000. It tapers to 50% at $900,000. The under-construction concession is 75% up to $800,000, tapering to 37.5% at $900,000.

Each concession is capped at $50,000.

RevenueWA’s rules checked on 3 October 2026 include survey-strata and community titles land schemes from 12 March 2026. Earlier contracts use their own dates, eligible scheme types and bands. Completed dwellings don’t qualify as under-construction purchases.

Apply with the contract and Form FDA53 within 12 months of registration on the dwelling’s title. Qualifying contracts assessed under earlier system settings can require reassessment. Count a refund only after its amount and receipt date are established.

Tasmania’s Closed Contract Window

Tasmania’s 50% concession covers qualifying agreements from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2026. Its current page, checked on 3 October 2026, excludes later contracts. The dwelling must have had no occupancy permit when the agreement was executed.

The value cap is $750,000, and transfer must occur before 30 June 2031. Buyers must be natural persons aged at least 18, subject to the Commissioner’s age discretion. At least one must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

Other duty relief and a first-home owner grant can disqualify the transaction under the listed conditions.

A new October 2026 contract can’t use this closed window. An eligible May 2026 contract awaiting completion can still fall within it.

ACT Unit Exemption

For contracts signed and exchanged from 1 July 2026, the ACT exemption has no property-value cap. This differs from the $1,020,000 cap for the preceding financial year. The rules checked on 3 October 2026 require an eligible unit-titled property and individual purchasers.

At least one buyer must own and occupy the home continuously for one year, starting within 12 months after settlement. Companies, trustees and business partnerships are excluded. Claim the exemption code on the Buyer Verification Declaration before title registration.

Keep supporting evidence for at least five years.

Broader Relief in Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory

Queensland’s current concession list, checked on 3 October 2026, separates four home concessions. Its first home (new home) concession has no value cap. The relevant purchaser and residence conditions still apply.

Buying off the plan alone doesn’t qualify the buyer for it.

RevenueSA’s first-home relief, checked on 3 October 2026, has no property-value cap for eligible contracts from 6 June 2024. For contracts from 13 February 2025, relief doesn’t cover the foreign ownership surcharge. The property must qualify as a new home, off-the-plan apartment or vacant land purchase.

The residence requirement includes at least six continuous months in the home.

The Northern Territory’s separate House and Land Package Exemption covers contracts from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2027. It requires a single transaction with a building contractor for a detached new home and land. The contractor must have bought the land from a developer and paid duty on it.

There is no means test or property-value cap. At least one applicant must occupy the home within 12 months of completion for six continuous months. These conditions were checked on 3 October 2026.

For a first-home package, also separate duty relief from construction funding and assistance payment dates. The first-home house and land package guide covers those funding differences.

Confirm When Duty is Payable

Duty can be due before, at or after settlement. Record the contract date, assessment date, duty payment deadline and settlement date as separate entries.

The following timing rules were checked on 3 October 2026. The assessment and the representative’s settlement instructions establish the actual payment arrangements for the file.

Jurisdiction	Assessment or lodgement point	Verified payment trigger
New South Wales	The legal representative can process an eligible deferral assessment before completion.	Ordinary duty is due within three months of contract, or by earlier settlement. With the deferral, pay at the earliest of 15 months after contract, completion with settlement or any assignment.
Victoria	Digital Duties Form and duty assessment support registration of the transfer.	Duty must be paid before registration, usually at settlement. Penalty tax and interest can apply after 30 days from settlement.
Queensland	Ordinarily lodge within 30 days of liability. An eligible conditional agreement can have an extension under ruling DA019.1.5.	Direct assessment usually allows 30 days from the notice. Registered self-assessor payment is due within 14 days after lodgement. Keep any permitted lodgement extension separate from payment timing.
Western Australia	Conditional agreements must be lodged within two months. The agreement’s legal class affects the payment period.	Issue-of-title or subdivision conditional agreements use three years from agreement or one month after assessment, whichever is later. General conditional agreements use 12 months or one month after assessment, whichever is later. Payment is needed for the duty certificate used to register the transfer.
South Australia	The conveyance and relief assessment support transfer at settlement.	RevenueSA describes duty as payable at settlement. Its registered-user agreement requires payment within three business days of conveyance registration. The representative must fund the applicable settlement process.
Tasmania	Transfer documents support assessment of property transfer duty.	For current transactions, duty is payable within three months after transfer, meaning settlement.
ACT	Lodge the transfer for title registration within 14 days after settlement. Assessment follows registration.	Duty is payable 14 days after title registration. An accepted exemption produces an assessment with the exemption applied.
Northern Territory	The transaction is assessed under ordinary duty rules unless an exemption applies.	Generally within 60 days of entering the transaction or at settlement, whichever is earlier.

The timing sources are Victoria’s duty guidance, Queensland’s payment routes and Western Australia’s conditional-agreement rules. Western Australia’s payment guidance explains the certificate needed for registration.

For the other jurisdictions, use RevenueSA’s settlement guidance and registered-user agreement, Tasmania’s transfer guidance, ACT payment guidance and Northern Territory payment guidance.

Queensland’s conditional-agreement ruling includes off-the-plan sales awaiting subdivision registration. Where the extension applies, compare the date all relevant conditions are satisfied with any required cancellation lodgement and the Commissioner’s specified date. Lodge within 30 days of the earliest applicable date.

An agreement cancelled because a condition isn’t satisfied is exempt and isn’t lodged, unless the Commissioner requires lodgement or resale duty remains payable. Lodging an agreement while still conditional can trigger assessment without a payment extension.

Incorrect planning treats a New South Wales settlement delay as permission to wait indefinitely for duty. Correct planning keeps the 15-month deadline even when completion is later. An assignment can bring the payment event forward again.

Calculate the Funds-to-Settle Effect

Place assessed duty on the date it must be paid, then calculate the buyer’s remaining cash separately from lender funds. Count a contract deposit once because it already pays part of the price.

This fictional example is a budgeting exercise, not a duty calculation. Assume the legal representative has confirmed $24,000 duty and a 1 December 2026 due date. Settlement is 1 March 2027.

Every other amount below is an assumed Australian-dollar figure, including applicable taxes.

Item	Amount	When it affects cash
Contract price	$800,000	Full purchase obligation
Contract deposit already paid	$80,000	Paid earlier and credited toward the price
Balance of purchase price	$720,000	Settlement
Lender funds available for purchase	$640,000	Settlement, assumed net of any deductions
Buyer contribution to remaining price	$80,000	Settlement
Verified duty	$24,000	1 December 2026, before settlement
Conveyancing and settlement costs	$4,000	Settlement
Settlement adjustments	$2,000	Settlement
Cash still required after the deposit	$110,000	$24,000 before settlement and $86,000 at settlement

The client’s original $80,000 deposit is already spent. Adding it again to the $110,000 remaining requirement would double-count it. The total buyer-funded cost across the purchase is $190,000.

If a confirmed reassessment reduces duty from $24,000 to $12,000, the remaining cash requirement becomes $98,000. If an approved deferral moves the unchanged $24,000 payment to settlement, $110,000 is still needed. Only the payment date changes.

If the buyer relied on a closed concession window and the final assessment adds $12,000, the remaining requirement rises to $122,000. That extra money must be available by the revised duty deadline. A refund paid after settlement can’t fund a payment due beforehand.

Keep an unconfirmed concession out of the savings column. Use the confirmed assessment in the funded plan and show alternative estimates separately until the responsible authority or legal representative resolves them.

Keep the Evidence With the Finance File

Keep the duty assessment and its assumptions beside the funds-to-settle calculation. The file needs enough evidence to explain both the amount and the payment date.

1. Save the complete signed contract, variations and purchaser details.
2. Retain the revenue-office calculation or assessment, its reference and payment due date. Label an estimate as an estimate.
3. Keep the concession application, purchaser declarations and supporting residence or citizenship evidence.
4. Record construction-stage information and the vendor’s calculation where the scheme uses construction costs.
5. Save the solicitor’s or conveyancer’s confirmation of the applicable scheme and settlement funding instructions.
6. Add the source URL, checked date and the person responsible for the next update.
7. List unresolved assumptions separately, including proposed nominations, intended occupancy or a refund not yet received.

An unresolved assumption doesn’t become available cash. For example, a proposed $12,000 duty refund stays outside available funds until its receipt can meet the required payment date. An unconfirmed duty figure stays outside the confirmed calculation, with a separate provisional allowance so the cost isn’t silently omitted.

Recheck Before Settlement

Recheck duty when the transaction changes, even if the loan amount stays the same. A changed buyer or occupancy plan can remove relief while the contract price remains unchanged.

Review the official scheme and assessment after a delayed settlement, nomination or assignment. Do the same when the purchaser, property description or construction status changes. For a temporary scheme, distinguish its contract deadline from any transfer deadline.

Tasmania illustrates the difference. An earlier qualifying contract still needs transfer before 30 June 2031. Victoria’s temporary strata concession uses the contract window, so settlement after that window doesn’t itself remove eligibility.

Give the updated duty amount, due date and assumptions to the person maintaining the finance plan. If the assessment creates a funding gap, use the off-the-plan finance and settlement workflow. Leave legal interpretation, objections and tax consequences with the client’s qualified adviser.