Pensioner Duty Concession Scheme in the ACT
A Canberra pensioner who moves house in 2026-27 can do so without conveyance duty, and the price of the new home no longer matters.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Methodology
Since 1 July 2026 an eligible pensioner buying a home in the ACT pays no conveyance duty under the Pensioner Duty Concession Scheme, and the scheme no longer has a property value limit. That changes the arithmetic of moving in retirement. A pensioner who sells a large family house in Kambah and buys a $900,000 single-level townhouse in Weston would otherwise pay $28,058 at owner-occupier rates; under the scheme the figure is nil. The removal of the limit also means the scheme is not confined to cheaper homes: a $1,500,000 purchase, which would carry $68,100, is treated the same way. Buyers who are not eligible pay the ordinary owner-occupier rates, or the higher non-owner-occupier rates if they will not live in the home. Victoria is the only other jurisdiction where this calculator models a pensioner reduction, and there the exemption stops at $600,000 with a concession up to $750,000.
Pensioner buying a home: VIC and ACT
Victoria, pensioner reduction
$19,130
| Victoria without it | $35,870 |
| ACT, pensioner scheme | $0 |
| ACT without it | $16,184 |
From a limit to no limit
Until 30 June 2026 the Pensioner Duty Concession Scheme carried a property value limit, which kept it to the more modest end of the Canberra market. From 1 July 2026 the limit is gone and an eligible pensioner pays no conveyance duty whatever the value. The practical effect is largest for people who have lived for decades in a Canberra house that is now worth a great deal, and who want to move to something easier to manage that is not necessarily cheaper: a new townhouse near the shops, an apartment with a lift, a smaller block closer to family.
The table shows the duty an eligible pensioner no longer pays, at owner-occupier rates, and what the same purchase would cost a buyer who intends to let it.
| Home price | Owner-occupier rates | Eligible pensioner | Non-owner-occupier rates |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500,000 | $8,408 | $0 | $11,400 |
| $650,000 | $14,888 | $0 | $17,880 |
| $800,000 | $22,158 | $0 | $25,150 |
| $1,000,000 | $33,958 | $0 | $36,950 |
| $1,300,000 | $53,158 | $0 | $56,150 |
| $1,600,000 | $72,640 | $0 | $72,640 |
Above $1,455,000 the owner-occupier table switches to a flat 4.54 % of the whole value, so the saving on a $1,600,000 home reaches $72,640.
The owner-occupier table the scheme replaces
To see what the concession is worth on a particular home, it helps to know the table it switches off. The ACT's owner-occupier rates for 2026-27 work in bands, each charged per $100 or part of $100 above its floor, until the flat rate takes over on the whole value.
| Value from | Owner-occupier duty |
|---|---|
| $0 | $0 plus $0.28 per $100 above $0 |
| $260,000 | $728 plus $2.20 per $100 above $260,000 |
| $300,000 | $1,608 plus $3.40 per $100 above $300,000 |
| $500,000 | $8,408 plus $4.32 per $100 above $500,000 |
| $750,000 | $19,208 plus $5.90 per $100 above $750,000 |
| $1,000,000 | $33,958 plus $6.40 per $100 above $1,000,000 |
| $1,455,000 | 4.54 % of the whole value |
Take a widow selling in Kambah and buying an $820,000 apartment in the city. The price sits in the band that starts at $750,000: $19,208 plus $5.90 on each of the 700 hundreds above it, $23,338 in all. If she is an eligible pensioner, the figure is nil. That is money left in the proceeds of the sale rather than spent on the move, which for many retirees is the point of moving at all.
Who is an eligible pensioner
The ACT Revenue Office sets out on its scheme page which pensions and concession cards qualify and what the buyer must do with the property. We have not reproduced those conditions here, because only the change of 1 July 2026 has been checked for this site: no value limit, no duty for an eligible buyer. Before relying on the scheme, read the office's page, linked in the sources, against your own situation. The calculators on this page simply let you switch the concession on and see the result.
The ACT next to Victoria
Victoria is the other jurisdiction where this site models a pensioner duty reduction for 2026-27. Its design is very different: a full exemption up to $600,000, a concession that fades to nothing at $750,000, available once, with the buyer choosing between it and the first home buyer scheme.
| Home price | ACT, eligible pensioner | Victoria, eligible pensioner | Victoria, no concession |
|---|---|---|---|
| $550,000 | $0 | $0 | $24,970 |
| $650,000 | $0 | $11,356 | $34,070 |
| $750,000 | $0 | $40,070 | $40,070 |
| $900,000 | $0 | $49,070 | $49,070 |
Up to $600,000 the two give the same answer, nil. In between, the Victorian buyer pays part of the duty; at $750,000 and above, all of it. A retired couple deciding between a $900,000 home in Wodonga and one in Canberra faces a duty gap of $49,070. The Victorian pensioner page details its scheme.
This price in one state, four buyer profiles
Investor
$22,200
| Home buyer, not first | $19,208 |
| First home buyer, established | $0 |
| First home buyer, new home | $0 |
| Foreign investor | $22,200 |
What the other states offer older buyers
Tasmania had a duty concession for pensioners downsizing to a new home, but it applied only to sales settled on or before 30 June 2025. South Australia introduced a seniors downsizing relief for buyers aged 60 and over, for contracts from 25 March 2026, worth up to $103,830 when a principal place of residence is sold and a new home, an off-the-plan apartment or land to build on is bought on a smaller block. Its detailed conditions are on RevenueSA's notice. The downsizer guide brings these together.
Selling and buying in the same year
Conveyance duty falls on the buyer, so the sale of the old house carries none for the pensioner. The concession matters only on the purchase side. For a pensioner who will not live in the new property, the scheme is not the relevant one: the non-owner-occupier rates apply, $20,040 on $700,000. And for a pensioner who has rented for more than five years, the Home Buyer Concession Scheme also reaches nil duty, by a different route. Off-the-plan apartments have their own owner-occupier exemption, explained on the ACT off-the-plan page.