Stamp Duty Calculator

Stamp duty (also called transfer duty in some states) is a state government tax you pay when you buy a property. It is a one-off cost, charged at settlement, and it is typically one of the largest upfront expenses after the deposit itself. On a $750,000 property, stamp duty can run anywhere from $20,000 to over $40,000 depending on which state you are buying in.

The tax applies to the transfer of property ownership. When you sign a contract to purchase a house, unit, or block of land, the state revenue office calculates the duty based on the purchase price (or the market value, if it is higher). You pay it before or at settlement, and if you do not pay on time, penalties and interest apply.

For investors, stamp duty is simply a cost of entry. Unlike some ongoing holding costs, you cannot claim stamp duty as an annual tax deduction. However, it does form part of your cost base for capital gains tax purposes, which matters when you eventually sell the property. We cover this in more detail below.

Every state and territory sets its own stamp duty rates and thresholds. This means two identical properties at the same price can attract very different duty amounts depending on where they are located. Victoria and NSW are generally the most expensive states for stamp duty, while Queensland and Tasmania tend to be more affordable. If you are comparing investment properties across state lines, factoring in stamp duty can shift the numbers more than you might expect.

Stamp duty is calculated on a progressive scale, similar to income tax. You do not pay a flat percentage on the entire purchase price. Instead, different portions of the price fall into different rate bands, and each band has its own rate. The result is that the effective rate increases as the purchase price goes up, but not in a straight line. This is why online calculators are useful: the maths is not complex, but doing it by hand across five or six brackets is tedious and easy to get wrong.

Stamp duty rates are set by each state and territory government, and they vary significantly. Here is a summary of how the major states stack up for a standard property purchase (not a first home buyer or foreign purchaser).

New South Wales charges duty on a sliding scale from 1.25% on the first $17,000 up to 7% on amounts above $3,505,000. For a $750,000 property, you are looking at roughly $29,000 to $30,000 in duty. NSW also offers a land tax option for some buyers, where you can choose to pay an annual land tax instead of upfront stamp duty, though this is currently limited to properties under $1.5 million.

Victoria has some of the highest stamp duty rates in the country. The scale runs from 1.4% up to 6.5% on amounts above $2 million, plus a premium of 5.5% surcharge rate applies above $960,000. On a $750,000 investment property, expect to pay around $31,000 to $32,000. Victoria also charges a foreign purchaser additional duty of 8%.

Queensland uses a progressive scale from 1% up to 5.75% on amounts over $1 million. Stamp duty on a $750,000 property in Queensland comes out at roughly $21,000 to $22,000, making it noticeably cheaper than Sydney or Melbourne for the same purchase price.

South Australia charges between 1% and 5.5% on a sliding scale. A $750,000 property in SA attracts around $33,000 to $34,000 in duty, which is on the higher end despite lower property prices in the state overall.

Western Australia has rates from 1.9% up to 5.15%, with a $750,000 property attracting roughly $29,000 to $30,000 in duty. WA also has a foreign buyer surcharge of 7%.

Tasmania uses a table of fixed amounts plus percentages for each price bracket. On a $750,000 property, duty is approximately $27,000 to $28,000.

These figures change when state budgets are handed down, so always check the relevant state revenue office website for the current rates. The calculator above uses the latest published rates for each state.

Most stamp duty concessions and exemptions are aimed at first home buyers and owner-occupiers, not investors. If you are buying a property purely as a rental, you will almost always pay the full rate of stamp duty with no discount.

Each state offers a First Home Buyer Grant or stamp duty concession (or both) for people buying their first home to live in. In NSW, first home buyers pay no stamp duty on new homes up to $800,000 and existing homes up to $800,000. Victoria offers a full exemption for first homes valued up to $600,000 and a sliding discount up to $750,000. Queensland provides a concession for homes under $700,000. These concessions specifically require the buyer to move in and live there for a minimum period, usually 6 to 12 months.

If you are a first home buyer who plans to live in the property before converting it to an investment, you may qualify for these concessions initially. But be careful: if you do not meet the residency requirement, the state revenue office can claw back the concession and charge you the full duty plus interest. The rules here are strict, and the revenue offices actively audit compliance.

Foreign purchaser surcharges are an additional cost that applies on top of standard stamp duty. If you are not an Australian citizen or permanent resident, most states add a surcharge of 7% to 8% of the purchase price. Victoria charges 8%, NSW charges 8%, and Queensland charges 7%. These surcharges make property investment substantially more expensive for non-residents and are separate from the foreign investment application fees charged by FIRB.

Some states also offer concessions for off-the-plan purchases, where you only pay stamp duty on the land value at the time of contract rather than the full completed value. This can be relevant if you are buying an apartment off the plan as an investment. The rules vary by state and have been tightened in recent years, so check the current position before relying on this.

The bottom line for most Australian resident investors: budget for the full stamp duty amount. Concessions are unlikely to apply to your situation, and building that cost into your purchase planning from the start avoids an unpleasant surprise at settlement.

No. Stamp duty on a property purchase is not tax-deductible as an annual expense. The ATO treats it as a capital cost of acquiring the property, not an ongoing expense of earning rental income. This is one of the most commonly misunderstood areas of rental property tax deductions, and it catches new landlords off guard every year.

However, stamp duty does have a tax benefit, just not an immediate one. When you eventually sell the property, stamp duty is included in your cost base for capital gains tax purposes. Your cost base is essentially the total amount you spent to acquire and improve the property. A higher cost base means a smaller capital gain, which means less CGT when you sell.

Here is how it works in practice. Say you bought a property for $750,000 and paid $30,000 in stamp duty plus $3,000 in legal fees. Your cost base starts at $783,000 (not $750,000). When you sell for $950,000 ten years later, your capital gain is $950,000 minus $783,000, which is $167,000, not $200,000. If you held the property for more than 12 months and qualify for the 50% CGT discount, your taxable gain is $83,500 instead of $100,000. At the 37% marginal rate, that stamp duty saves you roughly $6,100 in CGT.

This is why it is essential to keep your stamp duty receipt and all purchase-related documents for the entire time you own the property, plus five years after you sell. Many landlords lose or discard settlement paperwork years before they sell, then struggle to substantiate their cost base. A tool like propkt's document vault helps you store these records digitally so they are there when you need them, even if that is a decade from now.

It is also worth noting that stamp duty is separate from borrowing expenses such as loan establishment fees, which are deductible over five years. Landlords sometimes confuse the two because both are paid at settlement, but the ATO treats them differently.

Let's walk through a real example to show how stamp duty is calculated step by step. We will use a $750,000 investment property in New South Wales, purchased by an Australian resident investor with no concessions.

NSW stamp duty is calculated on a progressive scale. For purchases between $694,001 and $1,013,000, the formula is $27,607 plus 5.5% of the amount over $694,000. On our $750,000 property:

• Amount over $694,000: $750,000 minus $694,000 = $56,000
• 5.5% of $56,000 = $3,080
• Total stamp duty: $27,607 plus $3,080 = $30,687

That $30,687 is due at or before settlement. It is a real cash cost that you need to have available on top of your deposit and other settlement costs like legal fees, building inspections, and loan establishment fees.

Now compare the same $750,000 property in Victoria. In VIC, for properties between $660,001 and $960,000, the formula is $28,070 plus 6% of the amount over $660,000:

• Amount over $660,000: $750,000 minus $660,000 = $90,000
• 6% of $90,000 = $5,400
• Total stamp duty: $28,070 plus $5,400 = $33,470

That is roughly $2,800 more than NSW for exactly the same purchase price. Over in Queensland, the same property would attract approximately $21,850 in stamp duty, nearly $12,000 less than Victoria.

These differences add up when you factor stamp duty into your total cost of owning a rental property. For investors comparing properties in different states, stamp duty can shift the true entry cost by tens of thousands of dollars and affect your initial loan-to-value ratio if you are borrowing to cover it.

Use the calculator above to run the numbers for your specific purchase price and state. The exact result will reflect the current rates and thresholds.