Buying off the plan in NSW: when the duty is due
Revenue NSW lets owner-occupiers of an off-the-plan home pay transfer duty later; this page sets out who can, how long for, and the three cases the office uses.
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An owner-occupier who buys a home off the plan in New South Wales can pay transfer duty up to 12 months later than usual, so the duty falls due at the earliest of 15 months after the contract date, settlement, or an assignment of the contract. Without the deferral, NSW duty is due within three months of signing, or at settlement if sooner, which on an apartment that will not be finished for two years means paying long before you get the keys. The amount itself is not reduced: an $800,000 apartment carries $30,187 at the 2026/27 thresholds whether it is paid early or late, unless the buyer qualifies for the first home scheme, in which case it carries $0. Every purchaser must be an Australian citizen, a permanent resident or a listed visa holder, the home must become their principal place of residence within 12 months of completion, and they must live there for 12 months. Trusts, companies and investors are excluded.
What the first home concession is worth in your state
First home buyer pays
$0
| Same purchase, not a first home | $25,687 |
| Saved by being a first home buyer | $25,687 |
| Rule applied | First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme: full exemption |
Why timing matters more than the rate
Off-the-plan sales stretch the gap between signing and settling. A buyer can exchange on a Parramatta apartment and wait eighteen months for an occupation certificate. Under the ordinary rule that buyer pays duty three months in, with a deposit already tied up and no rent saved. The Revenue NSW off-the-plan page offers a way to move that payment closer to the move-in date. It does not change the duty scale; the bill is the same figure you would see for an established home at the same price.
| Price | Duty, owner-occupier | Duty, eligible first home buyer | New homes grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| $600,000 | $21,187 | $0 | $10,000 |
| $750,000 | $27,937 | $0 | none |
| $900,000 | $34,687 | $19,594 | none |
| $1,100,000 | $43,687 | $43,687 | none |
The deferral is worth the most to buyers in the right-hand columns who still owe something: a first home buyer above $800,000 or a previous owner at any price. Below the FHBAS threshold an eligible first buyer owes nothing, so there is nothing to defer.
The deadline, step by step
- Normal due date: three months after the contract, or settlement if earlier.
- With the deferral: up to 12 further months, giving a latest possible date of 15 months after the contract.
- Earlier triggers: settlement of the purchase, or an assignment of the contract, end the deferral at once.
So the deferral can never outlast settlement. On a project that completes 11 months after exchange, duty is due at that settlement. On one that drags to 20 months, it is due at month 15, while the building is still unfinished.
Who can defer
Revenue NSW applies the conditions to every buyer on the contract, not just one of them:
- each purchaser is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, holds a partner visa (subclass 309 or 820), or is a New Zealand citizen on a subclass 444 visa who has been in Australia for at least 200 days in the 12 months before;
- the buyers are individuals; a trust or a company cannot defer;
- the property will be their principal place of residence: they move in within 12 months of completion and live there for 12 months;
- vacant land qualifies only when the contract includes a residence to be built or developed before completion.
The three cases Revenue NSW uses
Sophie: eligible, then not
Sophie, an Australian citizen, bought an off-the-plan unit in Parramatta for $950,000 in January 2024, with settlement expected in April 2025, and declared it would be her home. Before settlement her job changed and she could no longer live there. The office's conclusion: she was charged interest from the original due date, April 2024, until she paid in April 2025. At the 2026/27 thresholds the same contract would carry $36,937 of duty, so a year of interest on that sum is the real cost of a deferral that falls through.
Mark: land without a home in the contract
Mark signed in September 2024 for a $450,000 block of vacant land on the Central Coast. He could not defer, because the contract did not include a residence to be built before completion. Duty on the land is due on the ordinary timetable: $14,437 at today's thresholds, and being an eligible first home buyer would not change it ($14,437), since $450,000 is exactly where the land concession ends.
Mei and David: one ineligible buyer
Mei, a citizen, and David, on a temporary work visa (subclass 482), agreed to buy an off-the-plan apartment in Sydney for $800,000. Because each purchaser has to meet the residency test, David's visa takes the whole contract out of the deferral. Their duty, $30,187 at 2026/27 thresholds before any concession, is due three months after exchange. As a temporary resident David may also face surcharge purchaser duty on his share, which is assessed separately.
Off the plan and the first home schemes
An off-the-plan apartment is a new home, so an eligible first buyer can combine three things: the FHBAS exemption or concession, the payment deferral, and the First Home Owner (New Homes) Grant of $10,000 on a home up to $600,000. The grant has its own occupancy rule (12 continuous months, starting within 12 months) and must be claimed within 12 months of settlement.
Other states do it differently
Victoria cuts the duty itself on off-the-plan purchases, by taking the construction still to come out of the dutiable value; the Victorian off-the-plan page shows how. Western Australia grants a percentage concession on new strata homes, and the ACT exempts owner-occupied off-the-plan units entirely. NSW is the only one of these where the relief is purely a matter of when you pay. The national off-the-plan comparison sets the four side by side.