Victoria's principal place of residence concession
The concession that is not limited to first home buyers: lower land transfer duty for anyone who will live in a home or on land valued at $550,000 or less.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Methodology
Anyone who buys a Victorian home to live in, first buyer or not, can pay land transfer duty at the lower principal place of residence (PPR) rates when the dutiable value is $550,000 or less. The State Revenue Office's own examples show the size of the cut: a $400,000 home costs $16,370 instead of $19,070, and a $550,000 home costs $24,970 instead of $28,070. The reduction comes from a lower rate between $130,000 and $440,000: 5 % instead of 6 %. Vacant land you will build your home on also qualifies, valued on the land alone. There is no rule about previous ownership, which makes the PPR concession the relief used by second-home movers, separated owners buying again and downsizers below the ceiling. Above $550,000 it disappears completely: $560,000 pays the general $28,670. First home buyers and eligible pensioners rarely need it, because their own schemes remove duty up to $600,000.
Living in it: Victoria and Queensland side by side
Victoria
$24,970
| Victorian rule | Principal place of residence concession |
| Queensland | $10,600 |
| Queensland rule | Home concession rate |
| Investor at this price (VIC / QLD) | $28,070 / $17,775 |
The PPR rate table
The concession is a separate scale, published by the State Revenue Office, that replaces the general one when the conditions are met. The first two bands are identical; the difference is in the third and fourth.
| Dutiable value | PPR rates | General rates |
|---|---|---|
| $0 to $25,000 | $0 plus 1.4 % above $0 | 1.4 % marginal |
| $25,000 to $130,000 | $350 plus 2.4 % above $25,000 | 2.4 % marginal |
| $130,000 to $440,000 | $2,870 plus 5.0 % above $130,000 | 6.0 % marginal |
| $440,000 to $550,000 | $18,370 plus 6.0 % above $440,000 | 6.0 % marginal |
On the PPR scale, 5 % applies from $130,000 to $440,000, then 6 % up to the ceiling. The general scale charges 6 % from $130,000. The saving is therefore one percentage point on the slice between $130,000 and $440,000, which caps it at $3,100.
The two SRO examples
The office illustrates the concession with two purchases. Both figures below come from our engine and match the SRO's published results.
| Home | PPR duty | General duty | Saved |
|---|---|---|---|
| $400,000 | $16,370 | $19,070 | $2,700 |
| $550,000 | $24,970 | $28,070 | $3,100 |
At $400,000 the whole value above $130,000 is still inside the cheaper 5 % band, so the saving is one point on $270,000. At $550,000 that band is full, the part above $440,000 is charged at 6 % on either scale, and the saving has reached its maximum.
The ceiling is a cliff
Most Victorian concessions taper. This one does not. At $550,000 the PPR scale applies in full; one dollar more and the general scale applies to the whole value. A buyer negotiating around that figure should know exactly where it is.
| Price | Owner-occupier pays | Investor pays | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| $300,000 | $11,370 | $13,070 | $1,700 |
| $450,000 | $18,970 | $22,070 | $3,100 |
| $520,000 | $23,170 | $26,270 | $3,100 |
| $550,000 | $24,970 | $28,070 | $3,100 |
| $551,000 | $28,130 | $28,130 | $0 |
| $600,000 | $31,070 | $31,070 | $0 |
Going from $550,000 to $551,000 adds $1,000 to the price and $3,160 to the duty. When a vendor asks for a little more than $550,000, the real cost of agreeing includes that jump.
Put another way, the owner-occupier at $551,000 pays several times the extra $1,000 in additional duty, compared with a neighbour who settled at $550,000. Above $550,000, living in the home makes no difference at all to the Victorian duty bill, which is why the owner and investor columns are identical at $600,000. The calculator above lets you test a price on either side of the ceiling before you bid.
Who actually relies on it
Because the first home and pensioner schemes cover their own buyers more generously, the PPR concession is mostly used by people with no other relief. Four typical cases, all computed at the current scale:
| Buyer | Price | Duty at PPR rates | Duty without it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Couple moving from a flat to a house in Ballarat | $520,000 | $23,170 | $26,270 |
| Separated parent buying a unit in Geelong | $430,000 | $17,870 | $20,870 |
| Retiree without a concession card, downsizing | $545,000 | $24,670 | $27,770 |
| Owner-builder buying a block in Bendigo | $290,000 | $10,870 | $12,470 |
None of these buyers is a first home buyer, and none holds a pension or concession card. For each of them the PPR scale is the whole of the relief available. The retiree near the ceiling is the one who should watch the price most closely, because a few thousand dollars more would take the purchase past $550,000 and onto the general scale, adding $3,700 of duty for a $10,000 increase.
Land you will build on
Vacant land qualifies when the buyer intends to build a home and live in it. The value tested is that of the land only, so a $350,000 block with a $400,000 building contract is a $350,000 purchase for this purpose, and its duty is $13,870 rather than $16,070.
How PPR sits beside the other Victorian schemes
Two groups rarely need PPR. A first home buyer below $600,000 is exempt, as explained on the first home buyer page, and an eligible card holder is exempt under the pensioner reduction. For everyone else who will live in the property, PPR is the only general concession, and it works with the off-the-plan deduction: the $550,000 ceiling is then measured after the construction still to come is taken off.
Queensland has a comparable rule, the home concession, with a different shape: it reaches homes of any value, not just those under a ceiling. The calculator at the top of this page puts both states side by side, and the Queensland home concession page explains the rates.