Stamp duty on $1 million
A million dollars is where the NSW first home concession runs out and where Queensland and the ACT move into their top marginal bands. Here is the bill in each state.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Methodology
A $1,000,000 purchase is the point where the last of the price-capped first home duty concessions closes. In New South Wales the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme has faded to nothing at its $1,000,000 cap, so a first home buyer pays the full $39,187. From here on, only schemes without a value cap still help a first home buyer: Queensland and South Australia on new homes, and the ACT's Home Buyer Concession Scheme on any home. Two scales step up at this exact figure. Queensland's top marginal rate of $5.75 per $100 starts at $1,000,000, and so does the ACT's band of $6.40 per $100. Victoria is already charging 5.5 % on the whole price: $55,000. A repeat owner-occupier pays the least in Queensland, $30,850.
This price in one state, four buyer profiles
Investor
$55,000
| Home buyer, not first | $55,000 |
| First home buyer, established | $55,000 |
| First home buyer, new home | $55,000 |
| Foreign investor | $135,000 |
A million dollars, four buyers
| State or territory | Owner-occupier | Investor | First home buyer, new home | Foreign investor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | $39,187 | $39,187 | $39,187 | $129,187 |
| Victoria | $55,000 | $55,000 | $55,000 | $135,000 |
| Queensland | $30,850 | $38,025 | $0 | $118,025 |
| Western Australia | $42,616 | $42,616 | $42,616 | $112,616 |
| South Australia | $48,830 | $48,830 | $0 | $118,830 |
| Tasmania | $40,185 | $40,185 | $40,185 | $120,185 |
| ACT | $33,958 | $36,950 | $0 | $36,950 |
| Northern Territory | $49,500 | $49,500 | $49,500 | $49,500 |
The investor column ranges from $36,950 in the ACT to $55,000 in Victoria. The owner-occupier column differs from it in only two places, Queensland and the ACT, and by a fixed amount in each: $7,175 in Queensland and $2,992 in the ACT.
What starts or stops at $1,000,000
Revenue NSW's first home concession reaches its cap. Queensland's top band begins, and the ACT moves from $5.90 to $6.40 per $100, a band that lasts only until $1,455,000, where its flat rate takes over. Western Australia's grant cap for homes north of the 26th parallel is also $1,000,000.
Victoria crossed its own line earlier, at $960,000. A Victorian buyer at $1,000,000 pays a straight 5.5 % of the price, which is why the figure is so round. The Northern Territory works the same way above $525,000, at 4.95 %: $49,500.
First home buyers past the caps
Above this price no jurisdiction except the ACT gives an established first home anything more than its ordinary owner-occupier rate. That makes the choice between new and established decisive in three places. In Queensland, a new home saves $30,850 compared with an established one at the same price; in South Australia, $48,830. The new versus established guide works through the trade-off.
Foreign buyers at seven figures
With surcharges included, NSW charges a foreign investor $129,187 and Victoria $135,000. The territories charge no surcharge, so the gap between Canberra or Darwin and the rest is at its widest for this buyer. The foreign buyer guide lists the surcharge rates.
Close by
Below this, the $900,000 page sits in the middle of the NSW fade. Above, the $1.2 million page looks at what is left once every capped concession is gone. All nine prices are on the duty by price index.