If you purchase property or land in Victoria (VIC), you’ll likely have to pay stamp duty. Also known as land transfer duty, stamp duty is essentially a transfer fee or tax on the sale of property purchases in Australia.
Stamp duty can sneak up on you, being both potentially quite expensive and easy to overlook if you’re buying real estate for the first time. With tens of thousands of properties changing hands in Victoria annually¹, we want to make calculating your payable stamp duty as easy as possible, whether you’re buying in metropolitan Melbourne or rural Wodonga.
When calculating your stamp duty, you’ll find out how much stamp duty you could have to pay on a specific property value, as well as any stamp duty grants or exemptions you may be eligible for.
You can also read on for more information on how stamp duty works in Victoria.
The amount of stamp duty a Victorian will have to pay varies based on the dutiable value of the property. It’s calculated by applying a sliding scale of taxation based on either the property’s purchase price or its market value, whichever is greater.²
Victoria has two sets of stamp duty rates: one set of concessional rates for principal places of residence and one set of general rates for non-principal places of residence/investment properties.
The thresholds for stamp duty on principal places of residence in Victoria are set by the Victorian State Revenue Office, and currently apply to contracts that were entered into on or after 6 May 2008. The current stamp duty rates for principal places of residence in VIC (as of April 2023) are listed in the table below.3
| Dutiable value range | Rate |
| $0 – $25,000 | 1.4% of the dutiable value of the property |
| > $25,000 – $130,000 | $350 plus 2.4% of the dutiable value in excess of $25,000 |
| > $130,000 – $440,000 | $2,870 plus 5% of the dutiable value in excess of $130,000 |
| > $440,000 – $550,000 | $18,370 plus 6% of the dutiable value in excess of $440,000 |
| More than $550,000 | The principal place of residence concessional rate does not apply. You’ll be charged at the relevant general land transfer duty rates. Please refer to the next table for the general land transfer duty rates. |
The general rates of stamp duty, which apply to properties not being used as a principal place of residence, apply to contracts entered after 1 July 2021 and are listed in the table below.⁴
| Dutiable value range | Rate |
| $0 – $25,000 | 1.4% of the dutiable value of the property |
| > $25,000 – $130,000 | $350 plus 2.4% of the dutiable value in excess of $25,000 |
| > $130,000 – $960,000 | $2,870 plus 6% of the dutiable value in excess of $130,000 |
| > $960,000 – $2,000,000 | 5.5% of the dutiable value |
| More than $2,000,000 | $110,000 plus 6.5% of the dutiable value in excess of $2,000,000. |
It’s worth noting that you may be eligible for certain exemptions and concessions which can affect the price you pay. You should do your own independent research on any exemption or concession you think you might be eligible for.
In Victoria, stamp duty is payable for various property types. You typically pay stamp duty if you purchase, acquire or otherwise become an owner of property in any way, such as through a lease, trust or gift. Stamp duty is payable on:⁵
However, as mentioned, VIC offers a number of different stamp duty concessions and exemptions. You may be eligible for one depending on your personal circumstances, the intended purpose of the property you’re buying (i.e. whether you’re an owner-occupier or an investor) and the value of the property in question.
Stamp duty is payable in Victoria within 30 days of settlement, and failure to pay within this timeframe may see you incur penalty tax and interest. Interest is charged at the market rate (which is adjusted every July) plus a premium of 8% per year on any unpaid stamp duty.
The interest rate as of July 2022 is 9%, which is the premium rate of 8% plus the current market rate of 1%.⁶ As an example, this means you’d incur an additional $900 in tax for every year you didn’t pay a $10,000 stamp duty bill and, depending on the circumstances, penalty tax rates could also apply.
However, it’s worth noting that if you’re buying a home with the assistance of a lender via a home loan, you’re generally required to have your stamp duty sorted and paid at settlement.
You may be eligible for a stamp duty exemption or concession in Victoria as a first home buyer. The Victorian Government doesn’t require stamp duty for first home buyers on homes valued at $600,000 or less, and offers a concession for properties worth $600,000-$750,000.⁷
Similar to how stamp duty is normally calculated, the first home buyer duty concession is applied on a sliding scale. The closer the value of your property is to $600,000, the bigger a stamp duty concession you receive. This stamp duty concession applies to new homes, established homes and vacant land.
The table below demonstrates how much you’d save on stamp duty with the first home buyer duty concession, with a principal place of residence concession, at a range of different property prices.
| Dutiable value ($) | Normal duty ($) | Duty after concession ($) |
| 605,000 | 31,370 | 1,045 |
| 625,000 | 32,570 | 5,428 |
| 650,000 | 34,070 | 11,356 |
| 675,000 | 35,570 | 17,785 |
| 700,000 | 37,070 | 24,713 |
| 725,000 | 38,570 | 32,141 |
| 745,000 | 39,770 | 38,444 |
The stamp duty exemption and concessions for first home buyers are also available for vacant land; however, it must be bought with the purpose of building a principal place of residence on it.
Note that any stamp duty exemption or concession you receive is separate to Victoria’s First Home Owner Grant (FHOG).
In addition to the stamp duty concessions and exemptions available for first home buyers in Victoria, you may be eligible for other discounts or stamp duty waivers. Exemptions may be available when:
Concessions or exemptions may also be available to those purchasing property in regional Victoria for commercial, industrial or extractive industry purposes.
You could get a stamp duty exemption if you’re an eligible pensioner and buy a property in Victoria to use as your primary residence. You’ll need to hold a valid Commonwealth concession card and, in most circumstances, need to be the primary card holder.⁸
Cards that are eligible include:
Foreign buyers (whether they’re a resident, company or trust) that purchase residential land in Victoria must pay the regular stamp duty that’s applicable, plus an 8% foreign purchaser additional duty.⁸
In Victoria, your bank, solicitor or conveyancer will generally arrange to pay the stamp duty on your house, land or property on your behalf. However, always check with them or request a duty statement, as you may incur fees if they don’t pay your stamp duty in time.
We understand how stressful it can be to buy a home and how difficult it can be to accurately calculate stamp duty, especially when so many different factors impact what you’ll actually end up paying. But with the help of the stamp duty calculator above and our home loan comparison tool, you could potentially clear up a lot of those unknowns for yourself – by comparing a wide range of home loans on rates, fees, features and more, you could gain a clearer idea of what you’re looking for in a home loan.
At the end of the day, it pays to compare, so what are you waiting for? Keep it ‘simples’ with our new home loan comparison tool.
1 Victoria State Government, Property sales statistics. 2023.
2 State Revenue Office Victoria. Dutiable value of a property. 2023.
3 State Revenue Office Victoria. Principal place of residence duty rates. 2023.
4 State Revenue Office Victoria. General land transfer duty current rates. 2023.
5 State Revenue Office Victoria. Land Transfer Duty. 2023.
6 State Revenue Office Victoria. Interest rates. 2023.
7 State Revenue Office Victoria. First home buyer duty exemption, concession or reduction. 2023.
8 State Revenue Office Victoria. Approved Commonwealth concession cards. 2023.
⁹ State Revenue Office Victoria. Foreign purchasers of property. 2023.
