First home buyer duty in Victoria
How the State Revenue Office exempts or discounts land transfer duty on a first home, what counts as the value, and the move-in deadlines for houses and land.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Methodology
In Victoria a first home buyer pays no land transfer duty when the dutiable value is $600,000 or less, and a reduced amount up to $750,000, after which the full general scale returns. The discount shrinks evenly across that $150,000 band: a $650,000 home costs $11,356 instead of $34,070, a $700,000 home $24,713, and at $750,000 the buyer pays the same $40,070 as anyone else. The State Revenue Office applies it to new homes, established homes and vacant land, where only the land value counts. At least one buyer must be an Australian or New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident, and the buyer has to move in within 12 months and stay for 12 continuous months; land buyers get longer to build. Defence force members on active service who are enrolled to vote in Victoria are exempt from that residence rule. A new home up to $750,000 can add the $10,000 First Home Owner Grant.
What the first home concession is worth in your state
First home buyer pays
$24,713
| Same purchase, not a first home | $37,070 |
| Saved by being a first home buyer | $12,357 |
| Rule applied | First home buyer duty exemption or concession: concession |
A $150,000 band where every dollar counts twice
Victoria's first home concession has one feature that buyers notice only at the contract stage. Between $600,000 and $750,000 the general duty is already at its 6 % marginal rate, and the concession is withdrawn evenly at the same time. Each extra $10,000 on the price raises the ordinary duty and takes away another fifteenth of the discount, so the duty a first buyer pays climbs much faster than the price.
| Dutiable value | First home buyer | Previous owner living there | Investor |
|---|---|---|---|
| $550,000 | $0 | $24,970 | $28,070 |
| $600,000 | $0 | $31,070 | $31,070 |
| $625,000 | $5,428 | $32,570 | $32,570 |
| $650,000 | $11,356 | $34,070 | $34,070 |
| $700,000 | $24,713 | $37,070 | $37,070 |
| $725,000 | $32,141 | $38,570 | $38,570 |
| $750,000 | $40,070 | $40,070 | $40,070 |
From $600,000 to $650,000 the first home duty goes from zero to $11,356; from $700,000 to $750,000 it rises by $15,357. A buyer who can keep the price at the exemption threshold, or win a few thousand off a price just above it, gains more than the headline saving suggests. The middle column also shows why the band matters even below $600,000: a previous owner at $550,000 uses the principal place of residence concession, explained on the PPR concession page, and still pays $24,970.
How the reduction is calculated
The SRO takes the general duty on the dutiable value and reduces it by a fraction: ($750,000 − value) ÷ $150,000. At $675,000 the fraction is one half, so the buyer pays half of $35,570, which comes to $17,785. We compared the method with the State Revenue Office calculator on 5 October 2026: its result rounds the duty to the dollar and the reduction up to the next dollar, and the engine behind this page does the same.
Which properties qualify
The SRO first home buyer page covers three kinds of purchase. An established house or apartment and a new home are both valued at the dutiable value of the contract. Vacant land on which you will build is valued on the land alone, so the building contract that follows does not push you over $600,000. A $450,000 lot in a growth suburb is therefore duty free for an eligible first buyer, whatever the house will cost.
| Vacant land value | First home buyer | Anyone else |
|---|---|---|
| $400,000 | $0 | $19,070 |
| $600,000 | $0 | $31,070 |
| $700,000 | $24,713 | $37,070 |
Eligibility in plain terms
You must be buying your first home, and at least one of the buyers must be an Australian citizen, a New Zealand citizen or an Australian permanent resident. The home must become your principal place of residence: you move in within 12 months of settlement and live there for at least 12 continuous months.
Deadlines on land
Land buyers cannot move in at settlement, so the SRO sets the deadline at the earlier of two dates: 12 months after the certificate of occupancy for the new home, or 36 months after settlement of the land. A slow build therefore has a hard stop; if the house is not finished three years after the land settles, the 36-month date governs.
Defence force members
Members of the defence force on active service who are enrolled on the Victorian electoral roll are exempt from the residence requirement, so a posting interstate does not cost them the concession.
Pensioner or first home buyer?
A buyer who holds an eligible pension or concession card and is also buying a first home meets two schemes with the same numbers. The pensioner and concession card holder reduction also exempts up to $600,000 and tapers to $750,000, but it can be used once only and the two cannot be stacked. Claiming the first home benefit keeps the pensioner reduction available for a later move.
The grant on a new home
Since 1 July 2013 the First Home Owner Grant in Victoria has been paid only on new homes, at $10,000 for a value up to $750,000. It sits beside the duty relief rather than replacing it.
| New home value | Duty, first home buyer | Grant | Net position |
|---|---|---|---|
| $550,000 | $0 | $10,000 | $10,000 ahead |
| $650,000 | $11,356 | $10,000 | $1,356 to pay |
| $740,000 | $36,838 | $10,000 | $26,838 to pay |
| $800,000 | $43,070 | $0 | $43,070 to pay |
A new apartment bought off the plan can also use the off-the-plan deduction, which lowers the dutiable value before the first home thresholds are applied. That combination is set out on the Victorian off-the-plan page. A group of buyers with no citizen or permanent resident among them falls outside the scheme altogether, and foreign purchaser additional duty of 8 % is then added to the general scale.