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Guide · Every state · FY 2026-27

How to calculate stamp duty

Every Australian stamp duty bill comes from the same three steps — it's the schedules that differ wildly. Here's the method, each state's version of it with a worked example, and the rounding rule most guides quietly skip.

FY 2026-27 rates · verified

Rates verified against the official sources — how we check.

The three steps behind every bill

  1. Start from the dutiable value. That's the higher of your contract price and the property's market value — for a normal sale, simply the price. It includes GST where GST applies, and chattels bundled into the contract.
  2. Read it into the current schedule. Each state publishes a bracket table: a base amount at the bracket floor, plus a rate on the excess — almost always expressed as dollars per $100 or part of $100. Schedules move: NSW's brackets index with CPI every 1 July, WA lifted its first-home thresholds in May 2026, Tasmania ended its FHB exemption in June 2026. A 2024 table gives 2024 answers.
  3. Apply your concession. Owner-occupier tables (VIC, QLD, ACT), first home buyer exemptions and tapers (everywhere except TAS and the NT), new-home exemptions (SA, QLD, NT) — and then surcharges the other way for foreign buyers (7–9% in six jurisdictions).

The "per $100 or part" rule — why percentages get it wrong

Schedules charge in $100 blocks, rounded up: any part of a block is billed as the whole block. In QLD at home-concession rates, a price of $650,001 and a price of $650,100 produce the identical bill of $15,104.50, because they share a block — while a straight percentage would (wrongly) show a few dollars between them. Our calculators charge by the block, exactly as the Acts do.

The same method in each state

NSW

Marginal brackets, CPI-indexed every 1 July, charged per $100 or part. Premium duty applies to residential value above $3.87m. First home buyers: $0 to $800,000, relief tapering to $1m.

$850,000 home → $32,437 at the general FY 2026-27 table (any buyer who isn't an eligible FHB).

VIC

Three schedules: general (investors), the principal-place-of-residence table to $550,000, and FHB relief ($0 to $600,000, taper to $750,000). Oddity: $960,001–$2m is a flat 5.5% of the whole price.

$545,000 home → $24,670 living in it, $27,770 as an investor — the PPR table only reaches $550,000, so above that the two converge.

QLD

General rates, or the home concession (1% on the first $350,000) if you move in within a year. First home buyers subtract a concession amount that steps down $1,735 per $10,000 between $700,000 and $800,000; new homes are duty-free at any price.

$650,000 home → $15,100 with the home concession, $22,275 at investor rates — and $0 for a first home buyer.

WA

One general schedule per $100 or part. First home owners: $0 to $600,000, concession to $800,000 (lifted 7 May 2026). Foreign buyers +7%.

$550,000 home → $20,140 general; a first home owner at the same price pays a concessional rate instead.

SA

Never-indexed brackets whose top rate starts at $500,000 — steep at everyday prices. First home buyers of NEW homes: $0 at any price; established homes get nothing.

$600,000 home → $26,830 for anyone but a new-home FHB.

ACT

Twenty years into phasing duty out: a concessional owner-occupier schedule, a standard schedule for investors, and — from 1 July 2026 — $0 for eligible first home buyers at any price.

$750,000 home → $19,208 as an eligible owner-occupier, $22,200 standard.

TAS

One schedule for everyone since the FHB exemption expired 30 June 2026. Foreign buyers +8%.

$500,000 home → $18,247.50, whoever you are.

NT

A genuine quadratic to $525,000 — D = 0.06571441V² + 15V with V in thousands — then flat percentages of the whole price. New house-and-land packages: duty-free for every buyer.

$450,000 home → $20,057.17 by the formula (yes, to the cent).

Every example above is generated by the same tested engines as the calculators — pinned to the revenue offices' published schedules and their own worked examples.

The four mistakes that produce wrong numbers

Stale tables. Most stamp duty pages on the internet quote a schedule from one to three years ago; four jurisdictions changed something in 2026 alone. Skipped concessions. Queensland's home concession applies to every owner-occupier, not just first-timers — investors and residents pay different amounts at the same price. Percentage shortcuts. "About 4%" compounds the per-$100 rounding error with bracket drift. Forgetting the extras. Transfer registration and mortgage registration fees add hundreds, foreign surcharges add 7–9% of the whole price, and under a 20% deposit LMI usually dwarfs the duty itself.

Want the arithmetic done for you, receipt included? Pick your state: NSW, VIC, QLD, WA, SA, ACT, TAS or NT — or compare all eight at once on the by-state page.

Frequently asked questions

How is stamp duty calculated in Australia?
Three steps everywhere: work out the dutiable value (usually the higher of price and market value), read that value into your state's rate schedule (a base amount plus so-much per $100 over a threshold), then apply any concession you qualify for — owner-occupier, first home buyer, or an exemption. The schedules, thresholds and concessions are different in all 8 states and territories, which is why a single "Australian stamp duty" table doesn't exist.
How do I calculate stamp duty on a house?
Find your state's current-year schedule (they change — NSW indexes every 1 July, WA changed in May 2026, Tasmania in June 2026), locate your price bracket, and compute base + rate × the amount over the bracket floor, counting in $100 blocks where the schedule says "per $100 or part". Or skip the arithmetic: our state calculators run the exact published schedules and are tested against the revenue offices' own examples.
How to calculate stamp duty in QLD?
Queensland reads your price into the transfer duty schedule — general rates, or the home concession's 1% on the first $350,000 if you'll live there — charging per $100 or part. Example: a $650,000 owner-occupied home is $15,100. First home buyers then subtract a concession ($17,350 to $709,999, stepping down $1,735 per $10,000 to $800,000; new homes free at any price). The QLD calculator shows every line.
How to calculate stamp duty in NSW?
Read the price into the CPI-indexed FY 2026-27 table (seven brackets, per $100 or part, $20 minimum; premium rates over $3.87m). A $850,000 purchase is $32,437. Eligible first home buyers pay $0 to $800,000 and a tapered amount to $1m — the taper maths is genuinely fiddly, which is why the NSW calculator reproduces Revenue NSW's own results to the cent.
Is stamp duty calculated on the purchase price or the value?
On the dutiable value — the higher of the price you agreed and the property's market value. For normal arm's-length sales they're the same thing; the distinction stops bargain-priced transfers between related parties from dodging duty. GST-inclusive price where GST applies, and the value includes any chattels bundled into the deal.
When do you pay stamp duty?
Almost always at or before settlement, lodged by your conveyancer along with the transfer: within 3 months of exchange in NSW and QLD, 30 days of settlement in Victoria, and similar windows elsewhere. Off-the-plan buyers can often defer. Miss the window and interest accrues — the duty itself never goes away.
Do you pay stamp duty when you sell a house?
No — transfer duty is paid by the buyer, not the seller. Selling costs you agent commission, conveyancing and marketing, and if the property was an investment it can trigger capital gains tax. The one thing a seller does not pay is the duty on the sale; that lands on whoever buys it.
Is stamp duty tax deductible?
Not as an immediate deduction. Stamp duty on a property purchase is a capital cost, so for an investment property it goes into the CGT cost base and reduces your taxable gain when you eventually sell — which is exactly how our CGT calculator treats it under buying costs. For your own home it is simply a cost of buying, with no tax benefit at all. The ACT is the known exception, because land there is held under a Crown lease rather than freehold and is treated differently — check the ATO for your situation before relying on it.
Can you add stamp duty to your home loan?
Not directly — duty is payable in cash at settlement, so it effectively comes out of your deposit. Borrowing more to cover it means a higher loan-to-value ratio, which can trigger lenders mortgage insurance. Budgeting duty + deposit + LMI together is exactly what people forget.

Keep tallying

Sources

Method and figures verified against each revenue office's published FY 2026-27 schedule — see the individual state calculators for their source lists, and the methodology for how the engines are tested. Rates last verified 2026-08-27. General information only — not financial, legal or tax advice.