Foreign buyer stamp duty and surcharges
Six jurisdictions add a second tax for foreign persons on top of ordinary duty; two do not, and the surcharge follows the share each buyer takes, not the whole property.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Methodology
A foreign person buying a home in Australia in 2026-27 pays ordinary stamp duty plus a surcharge of 9 % in NSW, 8 % in Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania, or 7 % in Western Australia and South Australia, charged on the value of the share the foreign person acquires. The ACT and Northern Territory duty calculators ask no foreign buyer question and add nothing. On a $1,000,000 established home bought outright by a foreign investor, the surcharge alone is $90,000 in NSW and $70,000 in Western Australia, more than the duty itself in both. Each surcharge has its own name: surcharge purchaser duty, foreign purchaser additional duty, additional foreign acquirer duty, foreign transfer duty, foreign ownership surcharge and foreign investor duty surcharge. A foreign buyer also generally loses the first home and owner-occupier concessions, so the base duty is the full scale. When a citizen and a foreign person buy together, only the foreign share is surcharged.
Foreign buyer: duty plus surcharge
Total for a foreign buyer
$115,687
| Duty at the general scale | $34,687 |
| Surcharge (surcharge purchaser duty) | $81,000 |
| Share of the price | 12.9 % |
Six surcharges, six names
The surcharge is a separate duty, assessed alongside transfer duty, and each office has given it a name of its own. Knowing the name helps when you look for it on the office's own website.
| State | Name | Rate | On a $1,000,000 home |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | surcharge purchaser duty | 9 % | $90,000 |
| VIC | foreign purchaser additional duty | 8 % | $80,000 |
| QLD | additional foreign acquirer duty | 8 % | $80,000 |
| WA | foreign transfer duty | 7 % | $70,000 |
| SA | foreign ownership surcharge | 7 % | $70,000 |
| TAS | foreign investor duty surcharge | 8 % | $80,000 |
| ACT | none added by the official calculator | none | $0 |
| NT | none added by the official calculator | none | $0 |
Tasmania has two rates: 8 % for residential land and 1.5 % for primary production land, both since 1 April 2020. Victoria's rate has been 8 % since 1 July 2019. This site only covers residential property, so the agricultural rate is not used in the calculators.
What a foreign buyer pays in total
For a foreign investor buying an established home outright, the base duty is the general scale and the surcharge is added on the whole value. The engine gives these totals:
| State | $600,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,500,000 | Share of price at $1,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $75,187 | $129,187 | $198,787 | 12.9 % |
| VIC | $79,070 | $135,000 | $202,500 | 13.5 % |
| QLD | $68,025 | $118,025 | $186,775 | 11.8 % |
| WA | $64,515 | $112,616 | $173,366 | 11.3 % |
| SA | $68,830 | $118,830 | $181,330 | 11.9 % |
| TAS | $70,498 | $120,185 | $182,685 | 12.0 % |
| ACT | $15,720 | $36,950 | $68,100 | 3.7 % |
| NT | $29,700 | $49,500 | $74,250 | 5.0 % |
The ranking flips at the top: the ACT and the Territory go from mid-table for a local investor to the cheapest places by far for a foreign one, because nothing is added. In NSW the surcharge on a $1,500,000 property, $135,000, is more than double the transfer duty of $63,787.
Local investor against foreign investor
For someone comparing the cost of buying an investment property from overseas with the cost for a resident investor, the useful number is the gap. At $900,000 the surcharge is the whole of the difference, because both buyers pay the general scale.
| State | Resident investor | Foreign investor | Extra cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $34,687 | $115,687 | $81,000 |
| VIC | $49,070 | $121,070 | $72,000 |
| QLD | $33,525 | $105,525 | $72,000 |
| WA | $37,466 | $100,466 | $63,000 |
| SA | $43,330 | $106,330 | $63,000 |
| TAS | $35,685 | $107,685 | $72,000 |
| ACT | $31,050 | $31,050 | $0 |
| NT | $44,550 | $44,550 | $0 |
RevenueSA publishes the same arithmetic in its own words: on a $600,000 property, stamp duty of $26,830 and a foreign ownership surcharge of $42,000, the surcharge being 7 % of the value acquired. The surcharge outweighs the duty at every price in that table.
Shared purchases: the foreign share only
Couples and family groups often mix residency status. The offices all charge the surcharge on the part acquired by the foreign person. RevenueWA's fact sheet gives the clearest worked case: two buyers, a $400,000 home, joint tenants, one foreign. Foreign transfer duty is 7 % of the foreign buyer's half, $14,000. Ordinary duty on the whole remains.
| State | Surcharge on a 50 % foreign share of $800,000 | Surcharge if bought alone |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | $36,000 | $72,000 |
| VIC | $32,000 | $64,000 |
| QLD | $32,000 | $64,000 |
| WA | $28,000 | $56,000 |
| SA | $28,000 | $56,000 |
| TAS | $32,000 | $64,000 |
The calculators on this site treat the whole purchase as foreign or not foreign. For a mixed purchase, take the surcharge from the table above for your share and add it to the duty the calculator shows for the citizen buyer's profile, then check with the office whether the concession applies to the purchase as a whole.
Concessions a foreign buyer loses
The surcharge is only half the cost. Most first home and owner-occupier concessions are reserved for citizens and permanent residents. In NSW at least one buyer must be a citizen or permanent resident for the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme. Victoria's first home exemption needs at least one Australian or New Zealand citizen or permanent resident. Queensland, since 1 August 2026, requires each buyer claiming the home or first home concession to be a citizen, a permanent resident or a specified foreign retiree. South Australia's first home relief never touches the surcharge.
Put together, a temporary visa holder buying a $700,000 home to live in pays very different amounts from a citizen at the same price:
| State | Citizen, first home | Foreign buyer, own home |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | $0 | $88,687 |
| VIC | $24,713 | $93,070 |
| QLD | $0 | $80,525 |
| WA | $16,150 | $76,265 |
| SA | $32,330 | $81,330 |
| TAS | $26,748 | $82,748 |
| ACT | $0 | $17,048 |
| NT | $34,650 | $34,650 |
Who is a foreign person
The definitions are set by each state's legislation and are not identical, which is why this page sticks to what the offices publish. Revenue NSW makes a point that is easy to miss: a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident who is not ordinarily resident in Australia can be charged surcharge purchaser duty. The NSW detail is on the NSW surcharge purchaser duty page, and Queensland's on the AFAD page.