New South Wales transfer duty: 2026-27 rates and first home relief

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Kooky

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Transfer duty is a cost of buying property in New South Wales that sits on top of the price, and it is one a buyer cannot negotiate. On a home bought for A$800,000 the 2026-27 scale published by Revenue NSW produces a bill of A$30,187; on a first home at the same price, the bill can be nothing at all. The difference between those two outcomes sits in a handful of rules: what the duty is charged on, which year's rates apply, when the money is due, and who counts as a first home buyer.

This guide follows those rules in the order a purchase meets them. It covers what transfer duty is and who pays it in New South Wales, how the dutiable value is fixed, the 2026-27 scale and the premium rate above it, the payment deadline and how it interacts with settlement, and then the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme: its thresholds, its conditions and the residence requirement that follows the buyer for a year after settlement. Every figure comes from Revenue NSW's own pages, and every worked example is computed from its published scale. The rules described are those of New South Wales only; each Australian state and territory sets its own duty.

Revenue NSW, transfer duty and First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme pages, 2026-27 settings.

What transfer duty is and who pays it

Revenue NSW describes transfer duty as a state tax charged on a range of property transactions and documents, most commonly when someone buys a home. It was previously called stamp duty. Revenue NSW collects it under two New South Wales laws, the Duties Act 1997 and the Taxation Administration Act 1996.

The list of transactions that attract duty is wider than a home purchase. According to Revenue NSW, duty applies to buying a home or a holiday home, an investment property, vacant land, a farming property, commercial or industrial property, or a business that includes land. It also applies when property changes hands without any payment: Revenue NSW names a gift, a declaration of trust and a change of beneficial ownership as examples. A transfer does not escape duty because no money moved.

The person who pays is the purchaser, or the person acquiring the property where there is no sale. Revenue NSW states that sellers and transferors do not pay transfer duty. For a vendor, that means the duty never appears on the selling side of the ledger. For a buyer, it means the duty has to be found in addition to the deposit and the balance of the price, because it is not part of the price and is not paid to the vendor. For an agent, the practical point is that two buyers offering the same price can face very different total costs, depending on whether one is a first home buyer and whether one is a foreign person.

Two further charges sit beside ordinary transfer duty and are mentioned here only so they are not confused with it. Foreign persons who acquire residential-related property may owe surcharge purchaser duty, covered near the end of this guide. And Revenue NSW notes that landholder duty may apply when someone acquires a significant interest in a company or unit trust scheme with landholdings over A$2 million; that is a separate regime and is not explained here.

The dutiable value: price or market value

Duty is not always charged on the price in the contract. Revenue NSW charges it on the dutiable value, which is the higher of two figures: the agreed purchase price and the market value of the property. It defines market value as the price for which the property may be reasonably sold, free from encumbrances, on the open market. Mortgages and other encumbrances are ignored, so a property that carries a loan is valued as though it did not.

In an ordinary sale between strangers, negotiated through a selling agent, the price and the market value are the same thing and the question never arises. It arises when the price is not a reliable measure. Revenue NSW asks for formal evidence of value where no consideration is paid or the consideration is not money, where the parties are related or associated, where no selling agent is involved, where the same legal firm acts for both parties, and where fractional interests are being transferred. It can also ask when it is not satisfied that the price reflects the unencumbered value. Its guidance, set out in Revenue Ruling DUT 012 v4, is that a valuation should come from a suitably qualified person, reflect the full market value of the property in its present condition, be dated at or near the transaction and confirm that an inspection took place.

Revenue NSW gives its own example of how this plays out in a family. Land in Nowra worth A$450,000 is sold to the owner's son for A$300,000. The dutiable value is A$450,000, not A$300,000, and the duty is A$11,602 plus 4.5% of the A$63,000 above A$387,000, which comes to A$14,437. Computed on the contract price instead, the same scale would have given A$1,662 plus 3.5% of the A$197,000 above A$103,000, or A$8,557. The discount between relatives saved the buyer A$150,000 on the price and nothing on the duty.

The rule works in the other direction too. In another Revenue NSW example, a buyer in Balmain pays A$4 million before auction for a home with a market value of A$3.7 million. The dutiable value is the A$4 million actually paid, because it is the higher figure. A buyer who pays above the market pays duty on what was paid.

The 2026-27 scale

Transfer duty in New South Wales is a sliding scale. Each band has a fixed amount plus a rate applied to the part of the dutiable value above the bottom of the band, and the rate rises with the value. Revenue NSW expresses the rates in dollars per A$100; the table below gives the same rates as percentages.

Two things about this scale matter before any arithmetic. The first is that it moves. Revenue NSW states that the thresholds and rates for general transfer duty and for premium duty are indexed each year to changes in the Consumer Price Index, so the band edges of 2026-27 are not those of the year before and will not be those of the year after. A figure remembered from an earlier purchase, or found on an undated page, may no longer be the current one.

The second is which year's scale applies to a given purchase. According to Revenue NSW, the rates are set by the date of the contract or, where there is no contract, by the date of the transfer. Settlement plays no part in the choice. A purchase whose contract is signed in one rate year and which settles in the next is assessed on the scale of the year in which the contract was signed. Revenue NSW's page names the rate year as 2026-27 without printing the calendar dates on which it starts and ends, so this guide does not state them.

Because each band's fixed amount is simply the duty already built up in the bands below, the scale has no cliff edges. Crossing from A$387,000 to A$387,100 does not re-rate the whole purchase at 4.5%; only the extra A$100 is charged at the higher rate. Within the fifth band, from A$387,001 to A$1,290,000, every additional A$10,000 of dutiable value adds A$450 of duty. Above A$1,290,000 it adds A$550.

The scale at work: five purchases

The following are worked examples, computed from the 2026-27 scale above. Each assumes an ordinary purchase in which the contract price equals the market value, the buyer is not a foreign person and no exemption or concession applies. The prices are illustrative and are not market data.

A home at A$650,000 falls in the fifth band. The excess over A$387,000 is A$263,000, and 4.5% of that is A$11,835. Added to the fixed A$11,602, the duty is A$23,437, or 3.61% of the price.

A home at A$800,000 is in the same band. The excess is A$413,000, 4.5% of which is A$18,585, and the duty is A$30,187, or 3.77% of the price.

A home at A$1,000,000 gives an excess of A$613,000, on which 4.5% is A$27,585. The duty is A$39,187, or 3.92% of the price.

Revenue NSW's own auction example sits in the top general band: a property in Yamba with a price and market value of A$1,350,000. The excess over A$1,290,000 is A$60,000, 5.5% of that is A$3,300, and the duty is A$55,537, which is 4.11% of the price.

At the other end, vacant land at A$350,000 is in the fourth band. The excess over A$103,000 is A$247,000, 3.5% of that is A$8,645, and the duty is A$10,307.

The effective rate climbs steadily across these cases, from 3.61% at A$650,000 to 4.11% at A$1,350,000, which is the sliding scale doing what it is built to do. For a buyer setting a ceiling before an auction, the useful figure is the marginal one: in the fifth band, raising a bid by A$10,000 costs A$10,450 once duty is counted. Revenue NSW publishes a calculator for transfers of land or a business, and notes that a solicitor or conveyancer can confirm the amount owed on a particular purchase.

Premium duty above A$3.87 million

Residential property has one more band. Above a threshold of A$3,870,000 in 2026-27, Revenue NSW applies premium duty: A$194,137 plus 7% of the dutiable value over A$3,870,000. The fixed amount is exactly what the general scale produces at the threshold, since A$52,237 plus 5.5% of the A$2,580,000 between A$1,290,000 and A$3,870,000 is A$194,137. The premium rate therefore bites only on the part of the value above the threshold, where each additional A$10,000 adds A$700.

The Balmain example mentioned earlier shows the calculation. On a dutiable value of A$4 million, the duty is A$194,137 plus 7% of A$130,000, or A$9,100, for a total of A$203,237. As a comparison computed for this guide, the general scale alone would have given A$52,237 plus 5.5% of A$2,710,000, which is A$201,287. The premium rate adds A$1,950 at that price.

Premium duty applies to residential property only, and Revenue NSW sets two limits on it. Where residential land is larger than 2 hectares, the premium rate applies only to the first 2 hectares, taken in proportion to the total value of the property; the remainder is charged at the general rate. And where part of a residential property is used for business, only the residential part counts for premium duty. A commercial or industrial property above the threshold stays on the general scale, at 5.5% on the excess over A$1,290,000. Like the general scale, the premium threshold and its rate are indexed each year.

When the duty is due

The deadline is three months, and Revenue NSW counts it from the earliest of three events: the signing of the contract for sale, the date of the transfer form where there is no contract, or the date of a deed. For most buyers the clock therefore starts at the contract, well before they own anything.

That deadline is a backstop, because a second rule usually arrives first. Revenue NSW states that settlement cannot take place until transfer duty has been paid, and that if settlement falls earlier than the three-month deadline, the duty must be paid on or before settlement. As a worked example with assumed dates: a contract signed on day one with settlement set six weeks later means the duty is due at six weeks, not at three months. A contract with a long settlement of five months means the duty is due at three months, two months before the buyer takes the keys. Buyers who agree a delayed settlement to suit a vendor should expect the duty to fall due in the middle of the wait.

The document that states the amount is the Duties Notice of Assessment. Revenue NSW says the payment options, including EFT and BPAY, are listed on that notice, and that the notice is sent to the buyer's legal representative where one is acting. In practice, it adds, duty is generally paid along with the other funds at settlement, and the solicitor or conveyancer manages it. The buyer's task is to have the money available by then; a first home buyer who expects an exemption still needs the application lodged in time for the assessment to reflect it.

One class of buyer may get more time. Revenue NSW says that people buying off-the-plan property to live in may be able to defer paying transfer duty for up to 12 months. The conditions of that deferral are on a separate Revenue NSW page that was not read for this guide, so only its existence and its maximum length are stated here. The same applies to interest and penalty tax for late payment: Revenue NSW sets those out on separate pages that were not read for this guide, and no rate is given here.

What the first home scheme takes off

The First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme is the main relief from transfer duty in New South Wales. It is not a grant and no money is paid to the buyer: it removes or reduces the duty itself. For contracts exchanged on or after 1 July 2023, Revenue NSW sets the following thresholds, which apply to new and existing homes alike.

The worked examples earlier in this guide give the size of the saving. An eligible first home buyer of a home valued at A$800,000 pays no transfer duty, against A$30,187 on the 2026-27 scale for any other buyer. At A$650,000 the duty removed is A$23,437. On vacant land valued at A$350,000 it is A$10,307. These are the amounts the general scale would otherwise charge, computed on the assumptions stated above.

Between A$800,000 and A$1 million the buyer pays a concessional rate, more than nothing and less than the full scale. Revenue NSW's pages do not print the formula for that rate; they point buyers to its First Home Buyers Assistance calculator. What the published figures do establish are the two ends: the saving is A$30,187 at A$800,000, and at A$1 million there is no relief, so the full A$39,187 is payable. A first home buyer weighing a property in that range needs the calculator's figure, or the assessment itself, and cannot derive it from the general scale.

The thresholds depend on the date contracts were exchanged. Under the settings Revenue NSW lists for contracts exchanged between 1 August 2021 and 30 June 2023, the full exemption for homes stopped at A$650,000 and the concession at A$800,000. A home at A$700,000 would thus have attracted a concessional rate under the earlier settings and is fully exempt under the current ones. The vacant land thresholds of A$350,000 and A$450,000 were the same in both periods.

Who counts as a first home buyer

Eligibility rests on the buyer's history, not only on the property. According to Revenue NSW, the buyer and the buyer's spouse or partner must never have owned or co-owned residential property in Australia, and must never have received an exemption or concession under the scheme before. The test covers the whole country: earlier ownership of a home in another state counts. It also covers the couple, so a buyer who has never owned property does not qualify if their spouse or partner has.

The other conditions Revenue NSW lists are these. The property must be a new or existing home, or vacant land, in New South Wales, with a value inside the thresholds. The transfer must cover the whole property. The buyer must be an individual, not a company or a trust, and over 18; Revenue NSW says both of these conditions may be waived on application. And at least one of the first home buyers must be an Australian citizen or a permanent resident.

The scheme draws no distinction between new and existing homes for contracts from 1 July 2023, but Revenue NSW defines a new home all the same: one that has not previously been occupied or sold as a place of residence. The definition includes a substantially renovated home and a home built to replace demolished premises.

The twelve-month residence requirement

For a home, as opposed to vacant land, the relief comes with a duty to live there. For contracts exchanged on or after 1 July 2023, Revenue NSW requires the buyer to move in within 12 months after settlement and to live in the home as their principal place of residence for at least 12 continuous months. For contracts exchanged between 1 July 2017 and 30 June 2023 the continuous period was 6 months, with the same 12 months to move in.

Read together, the two periods mean the obligation can run for up to two years after settlement: a buyer who moves in at the end of the first 12 months still has 12 continuous months to complete. The word continuous matters. The requirement is a single unbroken period of residence, and Revenue NSW's wording does not offer a way to add shorter stays together.

There are two routes around the requirement. The first is fixed: members of the permanent Australian Defence Force are exempt from it if, when contracts are exchanged, they and everyone buying with them are on the New South Wales electoral roll. The second is discretionary. Revenue NSW says that in exceptional circumstances it may accept a shorter period of residence or waive the requirement altogether. A request is made in writing and sets out the circumstances, the contract and settlement dates, when the buyer took ownership and moved in, how long they have lived there and whether and when they plan to return, with a copy of the Duties Notice of Assessment and supporting documents. Each request is considered on its own facts, so no outcome can be assumed.

Buying with others, and how to apply

A first home may be bought with a parent, a sibling or a friend who has owned property before. Revenue NSW allows for this under what it calls shared equity arrangements: an eligible buyer can still apply when buying with ineligible parties, provided the eligible buyers together acquire at least half of the property. The ineligible buyers pay transfer duty on their share. There is one firm exclusion: the arrangement does not apply if the buyer's spouse is one of the ineligible buyers. That follows from the eligibility test itself, which already looks at the ownership history of the spouse or partner.

The application is made after contracts are exchanged. For contracts exchanged on or after 1 July 2023 the form is the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme application numbered ODA 066B; contracts exchanged on or before 30 June 2023 use ODA 066A. It is lodged together with the Purchaser/Transferee Declaration for individuals, form ODA076i, and the buyer's proof of identity documents. Revenue NSW says the forms carry tick-box declarations in place of a statutory declaration and are lodged through the buyer's solicitor or conveyancer. A buyer who disagrees with the resulting assessment can lodge an objection or request a reassessment.

Foreign buyers and other concessions

Foreign persons who acquire residential-related property in New South Wales may owe surcharge purchaser duty. Revenue NSW sets it at a flat 9% of the dutiable value, payable on top of transfer duty, unless an exemption or concession applies, and calculates it on the share acquired by the foreign person. As a worked example on the assumptions used earlier, a foreign person buying the whole of a home with a dutiable value of A$1,000,000 would owe A$90,000 of surcharge in addition to A$39,187 of transfer duty, A$129,187 in all.

The surcharge and the first home scheme are assessed separately. Revenue NSW states that being eligible for the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme does not exempt a foreign person from surcharge purchaser duty, and gives the example of New Zealand citizens and permanent residents who are not ordinarily resident in Australia. A buyer can therefore satisfy the scheme's citizenship or permanent residence condition and still be treated as a foreign person for the surcharge.

Beyond first home buyers, Revenue NSW lists three situations in which an exemption or concession may apply: transfers to the beneficiaries of a deceased estate, transfers between spouses or de facto partners, and transfers made on the breakdown of a marriage or relationship. Each has its own conditions, which are not set out in this guide. It also states one relief that does not exist: New South Wales offers no transfer duty exemption for retired people who downsize to a smaller property.

Whether a given purchase qualifies for an exemption, and what the assessed duty will be, depends on the facts of that purchase and on the assessment Revenue NSW issues.

Kooky, from Shaka

Kooky edits Agents Estate and builds Shaka, the payment router he made for real estate professionals. One payment comes in, and every agent, agency and party in the deal receives their signed share on closing date.

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