If you’ve never bought real estate before, you probably haven’t encountered stamp duty before either. Stamp duty, also known as transfer duty, is a tax charged by state and territory governments on the transfer of a property’s title between parties – but you can generally think of it as just another homebuying cost to save any confusion. Whether you’re buying an established home, an off-the-plan apartment or vacant land, you’ll likely have to pay stamp duty, so it pays to be aware.
Stamp duty is charged on a sliding scale and these rates vary between the states and from territories, so it can be difficult to estimate how much stamp duty you might have to pay on your future home. But we’re here to help!
You can read on to learn more about how stamp duty works in South Australia.
Stamp duty in South Australia is charged on a sliding scale. The minimum stamp duty you may be required to pay increases in relation to the dutiable value of the property being transferred into your name.
The current general SA stamp duty rates (as of September 2022) are listed in the table below:¹
| Dutiable value of the property | Stamp duty payable |
| $12,000 or less | $1.00 for every whole or part $100 |
| $12,001-$30,000 | $120, plus $2.00 for every whole or part $100 over $12,000 |
| $30,001-$50,000 | $480, plus $3.00 for every whole or part $100 over $30,000 |
| $50,001-$100,000 | $1,080, plus $3.50 for every whole or part $100 over $50,000 |
| $100,001-$200,000 | $2,830, plus $4.00 for every whole or part $100 over $100,000 |
| $200,001-$250,000 | $6,830, plus $4.25 for every whole or part $100 over $200,000 |
| $250,001-$300,000 | $8,955, plus $4.75 for every whole or part $100 over $250,000 |
| $300,001-$500,000 | $11,330, plus $5.00 for every whole or part $100 over $300,000 |
| $500,001 or more | $21,330, plus $5.50 for every whole or part $100 over $500,000 |
So, say you purchase a property in Adelaide for $400,000. If your aren’t eligible for any concessions or exemptions, you’d pay $11,330 as well as $5 for every $100 or part of $100 between $300,000 and $400,000.
Dividing $100,000 (the difference between the two figures) by $100 gives us 1,000; multiply that by $5 and we have $5,000. Adding that to the initial $11,330 means you’d be facing $16,330 in stamp duty on your property purchase.
Keep in mind that these calculations are merely an example and don’t take any extenuating circumstances into account. We recommend speaking to your conveyancer or solicitor if you’d like an accurate estimate of your payable stamp duty on a given property purchase.
It’s also important to note that your home-buying costs don’t end there, and you may also have to pay for things like:
In South Australia, all transfers of residential and primary production land are considered ‘dutiable’ (i.e. subject to stamp duty) by RevenueSA. This includes:
For stamp duty purposes, residential land is land intended to be used as the buyer’s primary residence, while primary production land is land being used to conduct the business of agriculture, pasturage and horticulture, among other potential purposes.⁵
Be sure to do your own research or speak to your conveyancer or solicitor to check whether your property transaction will be considered dutiable by the South Australian state revenue office.
Stamp duty is calculated on the property’s settlement date in South Australia based on its final purchase price.² It must then be paid before the purchaser can be registered as the owner on the Certificate of Title.³
First home buyers in South Australia must pay stamp duty just like anyone else purchasing property. Unlike many of Australia’s other states and territories, SA does not offer any stamp duty concessions or exemptions to first home buyers³
Unlike much of the rest of the country, prospective homebuyers in South Australia do not have access to any stamp duty concessions or exemptions.
Foreign purchasers looking to acquire residential property in South Australia (or an interest in such) are required to pay both standard stamp duty and a 7% foreign ownership surcharge.⁴
As we’ve mentioned, stamp duty differs from state to state and territory to territory, and a dutiable transaction would incur different transfer fees depending on the state or territory in which it was made.
That’s why we’ve created stamp duty guides for different states and territories around the country, including:
1 RevenueSA. Rates of stamp duty. 2022.
2 SA.GOV.AU. Settlement. 2022.
3 RevenueSA. First Home Buyer. 2022.
4 RevenueSA. Foreign Ownership Surcharge. 2022.
5 RevenueSA. Exemption where you use the land for primary production. 2022.
