Stamp Duty Calculator

How stamp duty is actually calculated

Stamp duty, officially transfer duty in most states, is a state government tax on the transfer of property. The buyer pays it, always, and it comes out of your own funds rather than your mortgage. What catches people off guard is how the number is worked out: it's not a flat percentage of the purchase price. Every state uses a progressive, tiered bracket system, the same idea as income tax, where each slice of the property's value is taxed at its own marginal rate. A more expensive property doesn't mean every dollar gets taxed at the top rate, just the dollars sitting in the top bracket. Duty is generally calculated on whichever is greater, the contract price or the market value, which matters for off-the-plan purchases and related-party sales where the two can diverge.

One thing worth knowing up front: stamp duty is a state and territory tax, not a federal one. The Australian Government has no say in the rates or the concessions on offer, each state sets its own rules entirely independently. That's why a stamp duty calculator NSW result can look wildly different from a stamp duty calculator VIC result on the exact same purchase price. For the full state-by-state breakdown, our stamp duty guide goes into more detail than we can fit here.

NSW, VIC and QLD: the same idea, very different numbers

The three most populous states all use progressive duty scales, but the brackets, rates and concessions are set independently by each state government. New South Wales administers transfer duty through Revenue NSW, and also applies a premium rate for high-value properties plus a separate surcharge for foreign purchasers. Victoria runs its own scale through the State Revenue Office, with a principal place of residence concession that reduces duty for owner-occupiers buying at $550,000 or under specifically. Queensland uses a tiered structure through the Queensland Revenue Office, and hands any owner-occupier, not just first home buyers, a lower "home concession" rate on top of its own first home buyer eligibility rules.

The practical upshot: location matters as much as price. The same purchase price in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney will generate three different duty bills. This calculator handles all three, plus every other Australian state and territory, including first home buyer stamp duty calculator logic for each.

Worked examples

Example 1: a $750,000 home in NSW, standard buyer

Here's how the NSW bracket calculation actually plays out for a standard, non-first-home-buyer purchase at $750,000:

Nearly $28,000, and this buyer doesn't qualify for any first home buyer concession. That whole amount needs to be sitting in the bank before settlement, none of it can be rolled into the home loan.

Example 2: a $650,000 home in VIC, first home buyer

Victoria's first home buyer exemption is full up to $600,000, tapers off between $600,001 and $750,000, then disappears entirely above that. At $650,000, this buyer sits inside the taper. Here's how it works out:

1. 1. Standard VIC duty on a $650,000 owner-occupied home (above $550,000, so the general rate applies rather than the lower PPR rate): $34,070.
2. 2. The duty payable at the very top of the taper band, $750,000, works out to $40,070.
3. 3. Scale that by how far through the $600,000 to $750,000 band this buyer sits: ($650,000 − $600,000) ÷ $150,000 ≈ 33%. $40,070 × 33% ≈ $13,357 payable.
4. 4. Savings: $34,070 minus $13,357 ≈ $20,713 kept in this buyer's pocket compared to paying the standard rate.

The buyer also needs to move in as their principal place of residence and live there for 12 continuous months within 12 months of settlement, missing that condition can trigger a reassessment. Use the calculator above for the exact figure at your price, VIC's State Revenue Office updates its rates periodically.

First home buyer concessions, state by state

Every state gives first home buyers some kind of break, but the thresholds and the fine print vary a lot. Figures below are current as of August 2026 and reflect what this calculator applies, always double-check with your state revenue office before exchanging contracts.

Two of these are worth calling out. Queensland removed the price cap on its new home and land concession entirely for contracts from 1 May 2025, so a first home buyer building a $1.2 million new home in Brisbane can still pay $0 duty. And South Australia's first home buyer relief only ever applies to new homes, off-the-plan purchases or house-and-land packages, buy an established home as a first home buyer in SA and you're paying the full standard rate, no concession at all. Thresholds like these move around, WA lifted its full-exemption threshold from $500,000 to $600,000 in May 2026, so always confirm with the relevant revenue office before signing anything.

Other upfront costs to budget for

Stamp duty is usually the biggest single extra cost, but it's far from the only one. Here's what else tends to show up before settlement:

• Conveyancing or legal fees, typically $1,500 to $3,000 for a standard residential purchase.
• Building and pest inspection, around $400 to $800 for a combined report. Skip this on an established home and you're gambling with the biggest purchase of your life.
• Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI), if your deposit is under 20% of the purchase price. It protects the lender, not you, and can add tens of thousands of dollars on top. Our LMI guide breaks down exactly how the premium is calculated.
• Mortgage registration and transfer fees, smaller government fees for registering the mortgage and transferring the title, usually a few hundred dollars.
• Council rates and strata levy adjustments, you reimburse the seller at settlement for whatever they've prepaid from settlement date onward.
• Moving costs and insurance, from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, and you're usually on the hook for the property from exchange of contracts, not settlement, so arrange cover early.

A rough rule of thumb: budget 3 to 5% of the purchase price for all upfront costs combined, stamp duty plus everything else above. On a $700,000 property, that's roughly $21,000 to $35,000 on top of your deposit. If you're still working out the deposit side of that equation, see our guide to how much deposit you need.

Common misconceptions about stamp duty

"Stamp duty is the same everywhere in Australia." It isn't. Each state and territory sets its own rates and thresholds, so the same $600,000 purchase can attract very different duty in NSW versus SA. Always use a state-specific figure, never a rule of thumb from another state.

"All first home buyers get a stamp duty exemption." Not automatically. It depends on the price, the property type and your state. In SA, buying an established home as a first home buyer gets you nothing, the relief only applies to new homes.

"The First Home Owner Grant and the stamp duty concession are the same thing." They're separate. The grant is a cash payment, typically $10,000 to $15,000 for new homes, and $30,000 in QLD. The stamp duty concession is a reduction or elimination of the duty itself. You might qualify for one, both, or neither.

"Stamp duty is tax-deductible." Generally not for owner-occupiers. For an investment property, it's not an immediate deduction either, it forms part of the property's cost base for capital gains tax when you eventually sell.

"I can dodge stamp duty by buying through a company or trust." Duty applies to the transfer of dutiable property regardless of who's buying it. Corporate and trust purchasers often pay higher rates or extra surcharges, especially foreign-owned entities.