ACT Stamp Duty: Costs and Concessions

Australian Capital Territory (ACT) stamp duty is conveyance duty charged on property transfers, with the amount determined by value, use and any applicable relief. On a hypothetical $700,000 established home purchased on 3 October 2026, ordinary duty is $17,048 for an eligible owner-occupier. An eligible Home Buyer Concession Scheme purchase pays $0.

The ACT still charges stamp duty. From 1 July 2026, the Home Buyer Concession Scheme removes its income and property-value limits. Ownership and residence conditions still apply.

All amounts below are Australian dollars, using ACT Revenue Office rules current at 3 October 2026.

Use the stamp duty guides for other jurisdictions.

Identify the ACT Transaction

Start with the contract date, property use and buyer details, because those facts select the ACT duty rate and relief pathway. The ACT Revenue Office’s duty explanation bases duty on the greater of purchase price and market value.

Collect these facts before calculating.

• Record the earliest grant, transfer or agreement for transfer date. For an ordinary purchase, this is usually when contracts are signed and exchanged.
• Identify the property as residential, rural or commercial, including any mixed use.
• Record purchase price and market value, including goods and services tax (GST) where it applies to the property transaction.
• List every buyer, their ownership share and whether they buy personally, through a company or as trustee.
• Record intended occupation, domestic partners and prior property interests when testing home buyer relief.
• Identify any off-the-plan unit, related-party transfer, deceased estate or relationship transfer that needs a separate assessment.

The transaction date selects the rules, even when settlement falls in a later financial year. For a completed home, duty includes the house and land. For land bought under one contract with a separate building contract, duty applies to the land contract.

Keep ordinary duty separate from the relief assessment. Living in the home can qualify a buyer for the lower owner-occupier base rate without qualifying them for a full exemption. Commercial or mixed-use transactions need their own classification before you use a residential calculation.

Calculate and Verify the Duty

Calculate ACT duty from the transaction’s dutiable value, then apply the owner-occupier rate or documented concession. The official conveyance duty calculator asks for property type, transaction date and the greater of price or market value. It also asks about owner occupation and the Home Buyer or Pensioner Duty Concession Scheme.

For a hypothetical purchase on 3 October 2026, assume an individual buys an established residential home for $700,000. Market value also equals $700,000, and the buyer has owned another home during the preceding five years. They qualify for ordinary owner-occupier treatment but have no other concession or exemption.

Under the current non-commercial duty schedule, the relevant owner-occupier bracket is $500,001 to $750,000. Its formula is $8,408 plus $4.32 per $100, or part thereof, above $500,000.

Calculation step	Hypothetical input or result
Dutiable value	$700,000
Amount above $500,000	$200,000
$100 increments	2,000
Additional duty	2,000 multiplied by $4.32 = $8,640
Total owner-occupier duty	$8,408 plus $8,640 = $17,048

The schedule applies to transactions from 1 July 2025 and remains the published ordinary residential schedule at 3 October 2026. An eligible owner-occupier must own and live in the home continuously for at least one year, starting within 12 months of settlement or the relevant occupancy certificate.

The same $700,000 purchase as an investment, with no relief, uses the non-owner-occupier base of $11,400. Adding $8,640 gives $20,040. A buyer who meets the current Home Buyer Concession Scheme conditions instead pays $0, so one figure cannot describe every ACT purchase.

To reproduce the ordinary owner-occupier estimate in the official calculator, follow these steps.

1. Select non-commercial property and enter 3 October 2026 as the transaction date.
2. Enter $700,000 as the greater of purchase price and market value.
3. Select owner occupation and select no for the Home Buyer and Pensioner Duty Concession Schemes.
4. Save the input summary and result using the calculator’s Download & Print option. Compare the ordinary-duty result with the $17,048 calculation above.

The calculator is a guide. It excludes interest and penalty tax and does not replace the Notice of Assessment. ACT taxes are GST-exempt, so you don’t add GST to the duty figure.

Rerun the estimate if the contract price, market value, purchaser details, intended use or eligibility changes. For a special transfer the calculator cannot represent, give the contract and transfer facts to the ACT Revenue Office’s Duties Operations Team or your conveyancer. Keep that assessment separate from the ordinary purchase estimate.

Check ACT Concessions and Exemptions

ACT duty relief depends on the scheme’s eligibility rules and transaction date, with several full exemptions available from 1 July 2026. Claiming relief also creates continuing residence obligations, so a $0 calculation needs an eligibility record.

Who Qualifies for Home Buyer Relief

From 1 July 2026, the Home Buyer Concession Scheme gives eligible purchases full duty relief regardless of property value or income. It covers new homes, established homes and vacant residential land.

Buyers must generally be individuals aged 18 or over. All buyers and their domestic partners must meet the five-year prior-property test, covering interests in property anywhere in Australia or overseas. Limited exemptions apply, including particular relationship-breakdown and family-violence circumstances.

At least one buyer must own and live in the home continuously for one year. Occupation must start within one year of settlement, or the occupancy certificate for vacant land. A former homeowner can therefore qualify if their circumstances meet the ownership test.

Record ownership history and a residence plan before relying on $0 duty. Transactions before 1 July 2026 remain subject to their historical income and value rules.

Under the official claim instructions, enter the appropriate code on the Buyer Verification Declaration before title registration. The standard code for transactions from 1 July 2024 is HBC24. Separate codes apply to particular exemptions within the scheme.

Keep the contract, any occupancy certificate and evidence supporting the claim. Add proof of residence as it becomes available, and retain supporting documents for at least five years. For related-party transfers, Revenue can request a certified valuation dated within three months of the transaction date.

Off-The-Plan Units and Pensioner Relief

For contracts exchanged from 1 July 2026, the Off the Plan Unit Duty Exemption has no property-value cap. It applies to eligible individual owner-occupier purchases of unit-titled apartments or townhouses.

At least one buyer must own and occupy the unit continuously for one year, starting within 12 months of settlement. Record the off-the-plan contract and unit-title status. Eligible buyers use code 405 on the Buyer Verification Declaration before registration.

The Pensioner Duty Concession Scheme also removes its property-value limit from 1 July 2026. Eligible pensioners moving from their former home pay no duty.

The pensioner pathway tests pension status, ownership in the same names and the former home’s sale timing. The former home must be sold within one year before or after registration of the replacement home. Residence, other property interests and previous concession claims also affect eligibility, so retain the pension evidence and both property records.

Special Transfers and Other Assistance

ACT Revenue’s conveyance duty exemptions cover certain deceased-estate, matrimonial and spouse home transfers. Each has its own legal conditions. An inheritance exemption follows the will or estate documents, while buying an additional share beyond that entitlement can attract duty.

Give the conveyancer the will, court order, binding agreement or title details that establish the actual transfer. A family connection alone does not establish an exemption.

Duty relief reduces a tax bill. A grant pays money, and a federal guarantee supports a loan. ACT First Home Owner Grant payments ceased for transactions commencing from 1 July 2019, so don’t include that grant as cash for this October 2026 purchase.

The Australian Government 5% Deposit Scheme helps eligible buyers borrow with a smaller deposit and avoid lenders mortgage insurance (LMI). It has a separate eligibility process. Approval under that scheme does not establish an ACT duty exemption.

For first-home duty relief outside the ACT, use the first home buyer stamp duty guide.

Record Funds to Complete

Add the supported duty amount to the buyer’s deposit, fees and settlement adjustments to calculate the cash needed for the purchase. Reserve that money even when duty is payable after settlement.

This hypothetical October 2026 budget uses the $700,000 owner-occupier purchase above, a $560,000 loan and no duty exemption. All non-duty costs are assumed amounts, including any applicable GST. Replace them with quotes and the conveyancer’s settlement statement for a real file.

Budget item	Amount	Evidence or assumption
Buyer’s share of purchase price	$140,000	$700,000 less $560,000 loan
Conveyance duty	$17,048	Ordinary owner-occupier calculation above
Conveyancing and searches	$2,000	Assumed
Transfer and mortgage registration	$1,000	Assumed
Inspection costs	$600	Assumed
Settlement adjustments	$1,200	Assumed rates and other prepaid charges
Cash needed for purchase	$161,848	Buyer’s price contribution plus duty and costs

If the buyer has already paid a $70,000 contract deposit, the remaining cash requirement is $91,848. The contract deposit counts towards the $140,000 contribution. Counting it again would overstate the total cash needed.

With an established entitlement to full duty relief, this hypothetical budget falls to $144,800 before deducting any deposit already paid. If eligibility still depends on a disputed ownership fact, keep both budgets and identify who must resolve that fact before the buyer commits funds.

The ACT Revenue Office payment rules make duty payable 14 days after title registration. The Notice of Assessment gives the amount and payment reference. Align the cash reserve with that due date and the conveyancer’s payment instructions.

Keep these records together in the mortgage file.

• Save the calculator inputs, dated result and relevant duty schedule.
• Record the selected concession or exemption, declaration code and supporting documents.
• Track residence deadlines and any ownership or transfer condition that remains unresolved.
• Retain the Notice of Assessment, payment evidence and revised funds-to-complete worksheet.

The minimum deposit and funds-to-complete guide covers the wider cash calculation. A broker can use Bulma to check the lender’s deposit rules and retain its quoted policy wording beside the duty records. Before settlement, reconcile the buyer’s accessible cash, the loan amount and the conveyancer’s statement against the latest duty assessment.