Stamp Duty in Australia: What It Costs and Who Pays Less
Stamp duty, now called transfer duty in most states, is a one-off tax charged by each Australian state and territory when property changes hands. It is calculated on the purchase price (or market value if higher) with rates that climb in bands, so on a typical capital-city home it is the largest single cost after the deposit itself.
Because it is a state tax, the bill for the same $800,000 home differs by tens of thousands of dollars depending on where it sits: roughly $31,000 in New South Wales, around $43,000 in Victoria, and somewhere between in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. Rates are progressive — a higher band applies only to the slice of price inside it — and every state publishes its own calculator, so treat any single national figure as a rough guide.
First-home buyers get the biggest breaks. Each state sets a full-exemption threshold and a tapering concession above it — in 2026 the exemption ceilings sit roughly between $450,000 and $800,000 depending on the state, with concessions running higher again. Buying a few thousand dollars under a threshold can be worth more than a year of savings, which is why the thresholds shape what and where first-home buyers purchase.
Duty is payable on top of the price, not from the loan, so it comes straight out of your deposit. On an $800,000 purchase with a 20% deposit, a $40,000 duty bill means you need about $200,000 in cash, not $160,000 — and if you only have the $160,000, the shortfall pushes your loan-to-value ratio above 80% and can trigger lenders mortgage insurance. When it is due varies too: at settlement in some states, within 30 days or three months of the contract in others.
Investors and foreign buyers pay more. Investment purchases get no first-home concession, and most states add a foreign purchaser surcharge of 7-8% on top of standard duty. The ACT is the exception to the whole system: it has been phasing transfer duty out in favour of higher annual rates since 2012, so a Canberra purchase carries far less up-front duty than the same price in Sydney.
Stamp duty is a sunk cost — it never comes back when you sell, and it does not count toward your equity — which is why it argues for buying less often and holding longer. Factor it into a deposit target alongside the First Home Super Saver Scheme (which lets you build that cash inside super at 15% tax), the First Home Guarantee, and your state grant, and treat a move-up-in-five-years plan as a plan to pay duty twice.
Richify folds transfer duty, lenders mortgage insurance and conveyancing into your home-deposit target, so the number you are saving toward is the number you actually need at settlement — not just the deposit.
