Stamp Duty by State 2026-27: Same Purchase Price, Very Different Settlement Cheque
Two buyers can sign a contract for the same purchase price in different Australian states in 2026-27 and write settlement cheques that differ by tens of thousands of dollars — purely because of where the property sits. That gap flows straight into the deposit, the loan-to-value ratio (LVR) and, if the deposit thins below 20 per cent of the lender’s valuation, into a lender’s mortgage insurance (LMI) premium that is capitalised onto the loan. The difference is not academic. On a $750,000 home, first-home buyers in Queensland or South Australia can pay zero duty on a new build, while a non-first-home buyer in Victoria faces roughly $30,000 in transfer duty, plus an 8 per cent foreign surcharge if they are an overseas purchaser. Even between neighbouring jurisdictions the gap can exceed $15,000 on the same price, which alters the funds-to-complete, the assessed repayment under APRA’s 3 percentage-point serviceability buffer, and ultimately the maximum loan a borrower can obtain.
How much stamp duty does the same purchase price attract in each state and territory in 2026-27?
The eight Australian jurisdictions set their own transfer duty scales, first-home concessions and foreign surcharges for the financial year that started on 1 July 2026. The table below is not a table — it is a prose summary of the core numbers a borrower needs to size their loan quote, organised by jurisdiction.
New South Wales (NSW). The general duty scale runs from 1.25 per cent on the lowest band to a 7 per cent premium rate above $3,870,000. A purchase at $750,000 falls in the $387,001–$1,290,000 bracket: $11,602 plus $4.50 for every $100 above $387,000, which works out to roughly $27,900 in duty. First-home buyers under the FHBAS scheme pay no duty on a new or existing home up to $800,000, so the same $750,000 home can be duty-free if the buyer qualifies. Above $800,000 the concession phases out to $1,000,000. Vacant land up to $350,000 is also exempt. The FHOG is $10,000 for a new home priced at or below $600,000. Foreign purchasers pay an additional 9 per cent surcharge.
Victoria (VIC). The general scale charges 6 per cent on the portion between $130,001 and $960,000 (after a fixed $2,870 on the first $130,000). A $750,000 home incurs duty of about $30,000 under the general scale. First-home buyers receive a full exemption up to $600,000 and a partial concession to $750,000, so a $750,000 purchase attracts some duty even for a first-home buyer. The FHOG is $10,000 for a new home at or below $750,000. Foreign purchasers pay an additional 8 per cent surcharge.
Queensland (QLD). General duty on a $750,000 home sits in the $540,000–$1,000,000 band: $17,325 plus $4.50 per $100 above $540,000 — roughly $26,800. However, from 1 May 2025 first-home buyers of a brand-new home or vacant land to build on pay zero duty with no price cap. An existing home attracts a full exemption up to $700,000 and a partial concession to $800,000. The FHOG is $30,000 for a new home under $750,000. Foreign purchasers pay an additional 8 per cent AFAD surcharge.
Western Australia (WA). General duty on $750,000 is calculated in the $725,001‑and‑above bracket: $28,453 plus $5.15 per $100 above $725,000, yielding about $29,700. First-home buyers receive a full exemption on homes up to $500,000, phasing to $700,000 in metropolitan and Peel regions or $750,000 in regional areas, so a $750,000 metro purchase is outside the full exemption range. The FHOG is $10,000. Foreign purchasers pay an additional 7 per cent surcharge.
South Australia (SA). A $750,000 home falls in the $500,000‑and‑above general bracket: $21,330 plus $5.50 per $100 above $500,000, which is approximately $35,100. First-home buyers who purchase a new home, off-the-plan property or vacant land to build on pay zero duty with no price cap — a policy in place since 13 February 2025. Established homes do not qualify for the first‑home relief. This uncapped new‑build treatment can free up a very large deposit chunk; we explore the numbers in South Australia Stamp Duty 2026-27: Uncapped New-Build Relief and What It Frees Up. The FHOG is up to $15,000. Foreign purchasers pay an additional 7 per cent surcharge.
Tasmania (TAS). General duty on $750,000 sits in the $725,000‑and‑above bracket: $27,810 plus $4.50 per $100 above $725,000, roughly $28,900. The 100 per cent duty exemption on established homes up to $750,000 that applied to settlements between 18 February 2024 and 30 June 2026 has lapsed. For settlements from 1 July 2026 — this financial year — that established‑home relief is no longer available in its current form. First‑home buyers should budget accordingly, as detailed in Tasmania Stamp Duty 2026-27: The Established-Home Relief Has Lapsed — Budget Accordingly. The FHOG is $10,000 for a new home. Foreign investors pay an 8 per cent FIDS surcharge on residential property.
Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The ACT uses a concessional owner-occupier scale that is lower than the investor scale, and from 1 July 2026 the Home Buyer Concession Scheme (HBCS) removes the income test entirely. First‑home buyers pay no duty on a dutiable value up to $1,020,000, with a partial concession above that threshold. A $750,000 purchase can therefore be duty‑free for an eligible first‑home buyer. The ACT has no foreign purchaser conveyance duty surcharge; its foreign surcharge is a 0.75 per cent annual land tax. The ACT abolished the FHOG in July 2019. For the full mechanics of the income‑test removal, see ACT Stamp Duty 2026-27: Income Test Removed From the Home Buyer Concession.
Northern Territory (NT). Duty on a $750,000 home is calculated under the tiered rates for values above $525,000, producing a figure in the vicinity of 4.95 per cent to 5.95 per cent of the purchase price. The NT has no foreign purchaser surcharge. The old $10,000 FHOG has been replaced by the HomeGrown Territory Grant of $50,000 for first‑home buyers building or buying a new home, with no price cap. A separate FreshStart grant of $30,000 is available to previous owners building or buying new.
What does the stamp-duty gap do to a borrower’s deposit, LVR and LMI?
Stamp duty is a completion cost, not part of the purchase price, so every dollar of duty is a dollar that cannot go towards the deposit. When duty is higher, the effective deposit — the cash left after duty is paid — shrinks, pushing the LVR up. On a $750,000 home with a $150,000 cash pool, a buyer in Victoria paying $30,000 in duty has $120,000 left for the deposit, giving an LVR of 84 per cent. That triggers LMI, which for an 84 per cent LVR loan can add several thousand dollars to the loan balance. The same buyer in Queensland buying a new home as a first-home buyer pays zero duty, keeps the full $150,000 as deposit, and sits at an 80 per cent LVR — below the typical LMI threshold. The difference in duty directly changes whether LMI is payable and how much is capitalised onto the loan.
LMI itself then compounds the borrowing-capacity calculation. APRA requires lenders to assess serviceability at the product rate plus a 3.0 percentage-point buffer, confirmed still at 3 per cent as at May 2026. A larger loan — because LMI has been added — means a higher assessed repayment, which reduces the maximum loan amount a borrower can obtain under the buffer. The duty gap therefore ripples through the entire loan quote: funds‑to‑complete, deposit, LVR, LMI premium and finally the borrowing limit.
How do foreign surcharges alter the loan quote for overseas purchasers?
Foreign purchaser surcharges are applied on top of the general transfer duty and are calculated on the full dutiable value. In NSW the surcharge is 9 per cent, in Victoria and Queensland 8 per cent, in WA and SA 7 per cent, and in Tasmania 8 per cent. The ACT and NT impose no foreign conveyance duty surcharge. On a $750,000 purchase, an 8 per cent surcharge adds $60,000 to the completion costs. That is cash the buyer must bring to settlement; it cannot be borrowed as part of the standard home loan because lenders treat duty and surcharges as funds‑to‑complete that must be verified upfront. For a foreign buyer, the effective deposit after duty and surcharge can be so reduced that the LVR exceeds 80 per cent even with a substantial cash contribution, triggering LMI and further constraining the loan size.
How do first-home concessions change the borrowing equation across states?
The first-home treatment in 2026-27 varies so widely that two first-home buyers with identical incomes and savings can face completely different loan structures. In Queensland, South Australia and the ACT, a first-home buyer purchasing a new home can pay zero duty with no effective price cap (subject to the ACT’s $1,020,000 threshold for full exemption). In NSW the full exemption cuts out at $800,000, and in Victoria at $600,000. In WA the full exemption stops at $500,000 in metro areas. In Tasmania the established-home relief has lapsed for settlements from 1 July 2026. These thresholds determine whether the buyer needs to fund duty from their savings, which in turn dictates the LVR and the LMI outcome.
The FHOG amounts also differ: $30,000 in Queensland, up to $15,000 in SA, $10,000 in NSW, Victoria, WA and Tasmania, $50,000 through the HomeGrown Territory Grant in the NT, and zero in the ACT. A grant is not duty relief — it is cash that can be directed to the deposit or completion costs — so it directly improves the LVR. A Queensland first-home buyer receiving $30,000 on a $750,000 new home can push their effective deposit higher, potentially moving from an LMI‑paying LVR to a sub‑80 per cent LVR and avoiding LMI altogether.
How does the HELP/HECS repayment system affect assessed borrowing capacity in 2026-27?
The HELP/HECS compulsory repayment system moved to a marginal model from 2025‑26, and in 2026‑27 the repayment thresholds are: no repayment on repayment income up to $69,528; 15 per cent of the amount above $69,528 for income between $69,529 and $129,717; $9,028 plus 17 per cent of the amount above $129,717 for income between $129,718 and $186,050; and 10 per cent of total repayment income above $186,051. Because lenders treat HELP repayments as a non‑discretionary outgoing, a borrower earning $100,000 with a HELP debt has a repayment of roughly $4,570 deducted from their after‑tax income in the serviceability calculator. Under APRA’s 3 per cent buffer, that reduces the surplus income available to service the loan, directly lowering the maximum borrowing amount. The marginal system means the repayment is smaller than under the old flat‑rate method for many borrowers, but it still bites when the loan quote is being sized.
How do the 2026-27 resident and non-resident tax scales interact with the loan application?
The resident tax scales for 2026‑27 include a 15 per cent rate on income between $18,201 and $45,000 (cut from 16 per cent on 1 July 2026 and legislated to fall to 14 per cent from 1 July 2027), then 30 per cent, 37 per cent and 45 per cent on the top bracket above $190,000. Non‑residents pay 30 per cent from the first dollar up to $135,000, then 37 per cent and 45 per cent, with no tax‑free threshold and no Medicare Levy. Working holiday makers on 417 or 462 visas have their own scale starting at 15 per cent up to $45,000. Lenders use after‑tax income in their serviceability models, so a non‑resident on the same gross salary as a resident will show a lower net income, reducing the maximum loan. Combined with the foreign purchaser duty surcharge, the non‑resident borrower faces a double hit: higher completion costs and lower assessed borrowing capacity.
What about the Medicare Levy and Medicare Levy Surcharge?
The Medicare Levy is 2 per cent of taxable income, with reductions and exemptions for low incomes. The Medicare Levy Surcharge (MLS) applies to higher earners without eligible private hospital cover: for singles in 2025‑26 the threshold is $101,000, with rates of 1.0 per cent, 1.25 per cent and 1.5 per cent at higher incomes. Lenders do not typically add the MLS as a separate line item in their household expenditure benchmarks, but the cost of private health insurance — often taken out to avoid the MLS — is treated as a non‑discretionary expense. A borrower paying $2,500 a year in hospital cover to avoid a 1.25 per cent MLS will see that premium reduce their net surplus in the serviceability calculator, trimming the loan amount. The effect is modest but real when a loan quote is being fine‑tuned near the borrower’s maximum capacity.
How does APRA’s DTI limit interact with high‑duty states?
From February 2026, APRA requires banks to keep new lending at a debt‑to‑income (DTI) ratio of 6 or above within 20 per cent of each portfolio’s new lending. In high‑duty states where the loan size must be larger to cover the same purchase price — because duty consumes more of the buyer’s cash — the DTI ratio can tip over 6 more easily. A borrower in Victoria paying $30,000 in duty on a $750,000 home needs a larger loan relative to their income than a borrower in Queensland paying zero duty on the same price. That can push the Victorian borrower into the DTI‑constrained lending bucket, where the bank may decline the application or offer a smaller loan even if the serviceability buffer test is passed. The duty gap therefore matters not just for the deposit arithmetic but for whether the loan fits within the lender’s DTI appetite.
Data basis and sources — as at July 2026
The duty scales, thresholds, surcharge rates and grant amounts in this article are drawn from the 2026‑27 revenue authority publications of each state and territory: Revenue NSW, the State Revenue Office Victoria, the Queensland Revenue Office, the Western Australia Department of Treasury and Finance, RevenueSA, the State Revenue Office Tasmania, the ACT Revenue Office and the NT Territory Revenue Office. Federal tax, HELP and MLS figures are sourced from the Australian Taxation Office. APRA buffer and DTI settings are confirmed by APRA’s public statements, most recently in May 2026. All figures reflect the law as it stood at 1 July 2026. Policy settings can change mid‑year; a licensed mortgage adviser can confirm the stamp duty payable on a specific property and how it affects your loan quote.
FAQ
Does stamp duty count as part of the deposit when a lender calculates LVR? No. Lenders calculate LVR as the loan amount divided by the property’s valuation. Stamp duty is a separate completion cost. If you pay $30,000 in duty from your savings, your remaining cash deposit is lower, which can push the LVR above 80 per cent and trigger LMI.
Can I add stamp duty to my home loan? Generally not. Most Australian lenders require you to fund stamp duty, foreign surcharges and other completion costs from your own savings. Some lenders may allow capitalisation of LMI, but the duty itself must be covered by your funds‑to‑complete. A licensed Arrivau mortgage adviser can explain which structures are available for your situation.
Which state has the lowest stamp duty for a first-home buyer buying an established home in 2026-27? The answer depends on the purchase price. In NSW a first‑home buyer can pay zero duty on an established home up to $800,000. In Victoria the full exemption stops at $600,000. In Queensland the established‑home concession is full up to $700,000. In Tasmania the established‑home relief has lapsed for settlements from 1 July 2026. In the ACT the HBCS can cover an established home up to $1,020,000 with no income test. The best outcome depends on the property’s location and price.
Do foreign buyers pay stamp duty surcharges in every state? No. NSW, Victoria, Queensland, WA, SA and Tasmania impose foreign purchaser surcharges ranging from 7 per cent to 9 per cent. The ACT and NT do not impose a foreign conveyance duty surcharge, although the ACT applies a 0.75 per cent annual land tax surcharge on foreign owners.
How quickly can I get a loan quote that factors in my state’s stamp duty? A licensed Arrivau mortgage adviser can prepare a loan quote that includes your state’s specific duty, any first‑home concessions or grants, and the APRA buffer impact, and you will hear back within one business day.
Where to Go From Here
Policy settings tell you the size of the cheque you need at settlement; they do not tell you whether the loan behind it actually works. If you want the duty, deposit, LMI and assessed repayment modelled together against your real income and commitments, a licensed Arrivau mortgage adviser can review your position and come back to you within one business day.
This article is general information only and does not constitute financial, tax or legal advice. Rates, thresholds and eligibility rules change. Confirm your own position with the ATO, the relevant state or territory Revenue Office, or a licensed adviser before acting.