NSW Stamp Duty Calculator
Calculate transfer duty on your New South Wales property purchase. Updated with 2026–27 rates.
| Effective Rate | — |
| Total Purchase Cost | — |
How Stamp Duty Works in NSW
Stamp duty — officially transfer duty in New South Wales — is charged on the dutiable value of a property transfer: the purchase price or the unencumbered market value, whichever is higher. Sell to a relative below market and Revenue NSW still assesses the market figure.
NSW runs one duty scale for everyone. There is no owner-occupier concession and no separate investor rate — the same schedule applies whether you move in or rent it out. What changes the answer is who is buying: first home buyers may qualify for the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme, foreign persons pay a 9% surcharge on top, and residential land above $3,870,000 moves onto premium property duty.
Thresholds are indexed to CPI each 1 July, and the year that applies is fixed by your contract date — not settlement. A contract exchanged on 28 June 2026 is assessed on the FY 2025–26 scale even if it settles in October. The scale below is FY 2026–27.
Current NSW transfer duty rates (FY 2026–27)
| Dutiable value | Duty payable |
|---|---|
| $0 – $18,000 | $1.25 per $100 (minimum $20) |
| $18,001 – $38,000 | $225 + $1.50 per $100 over $18,000 |
| $38,001 – $103,000 | $525 + $1.75 per $100 over $38,000 |
| $103,001 – $387,000 | $1,662 + $3.50 per $100 over $103,000 |
| $387,001 – $1,290,000 | $11,602 + $4.50 per $100 over $387,000 |
| Over $1,290,000 | $52,237 + $5.50 per $100 over $1,290,000 |
| Over $3,870,000 (residential) | $194,137 + $7.00 per $100 over $3,870,000 |
What that costs at real Sydney prices
| Price | Duty (general) | Effective rate | First home buyer | Foreign buyer (duty + 9%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $650,000 | $23,437 | 3.61% | $0 | $81,937 |
| $800,000 | $30,187 | 3.77% | $0 | $102,187 |
| $850,000 | $32,437 | 3.82% | $9,796.75 | $108,937 |
| $900,000 | $34,687 | 3.85% | $19,593.50 | $115,687 |
| $950,000 | $36,937 | 3.89% | $29,390.25 | $122,437 |
| $1,000,000 | $39,187 | 3.92% | $39,187 (no concession) | $129,187 |
| $1,200,000 | $48,187 | 4.02% | $48,187 | $156,187 |
| $1,500,000 | $63,787 | 4.25% | $63,787 | $198,787 |
| $2,000,000 | $91,287 | 4.56% | $91,287 | $271,287 |
| $4,000,000 | $203,237 | 5.08% | $203,237 | $563,237 |
A worked example
An $800,000 home sits in the $387,001–$1,290,000 band, so duty is that band's base amount plus $4.50 per $100 of the excess:
$11,602 + ($800,000 − $387,000) ÷ 100 × $4.50 = $30,187
That is 3.77% of the price, and $830,187 all up. Duty is a cash cost at settlement, not something the lender advances, so it comes out of the same pool as the deposit — the settlement costs calculator covers the rest of that pool.
First home buyers: the FHBAS
The First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme exempts or discounts transfer duty on two separate scales:
- A new or existing home — fully exempt at $800,000 or less; concessional above $800,000 and below $1,000,000.
- Vacant land you intend to build on — fully exempt at $350,000 or less; concessional above $350,000 and below $450,000.
Eligibility attaches to the buyer, not the building. You must be an individual over 18 — not a company or trust — and at least one of the first home buyers must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Neither you nor your spouse may ever have owned residential property in Australia, or received FHBAS before.
The residence condition is two separate requirements, and is widely reported wrongly: move in within 12 months after settlement, and live there as your principal place of residence for at least 12 continuous months. It is not twelve months of occupancy squeezed into the first year.
Buying with ineligible people need not sink the claim — you can still apply provided the eligible buyers acquire at least half the property, though not where your spouse is one of the ineligible buyers. The first home buyer calculator covers the wider package.
Inside the concession band
Between $800,000 and $1,000,000 the exemption tapers into a partial concession. At $850,000 an eligible first home buyer pays $9,796.75 instead of $32,437; at $900,000, $19,593.50; at $950,000, $29,390.25.
The band is usually described as ending in a cliff at $1,000,000. It doesn't — the taper is mathematically continuous at both ends, worth roughly 20 cents at $800,001 and roughly 15 cents at $999,999. The step that actually matters is at the bottom: duty is nil at $800,000 and $9,796.75 at $850,000, so the first $50,000 above the exemption costs about $9,800 in duty on top.
First Home Owner (New Homes) Grant
Separately from duty, NSW pays a $10,000 First Home Owner Grant on new homes only. The cap is $600,000 for a newly built or substantially renovated home, and $750,000 for house-and-land, counting land and building contract together. It is not means tested.
This is the one place the new-versus-established distinction bites in NSW. The duty scale does not care — which is why the calculator's Existing and New Build options return identical figures — but the grant exists only for new homes.
Foreign buyers: surcharge purchaser duty
A foreign person acquiring residential property in NSW pays surcharge purchaser duty of 9% of the dutiable value, in addition to ordinary transfer duty. The rate rose from 8% to 9% on 1 January 2025.
On an $800,000 purchase: $30,187 of transfer duty plus $72,000 of surcharge = $102,187, or 12.77% of the price. The foreign buyer surcharge calculator has the state-by-state comparison.
Above $3.87 million: premium property duty
Residential land with a dutiable value above $3,870,000 is charged premium property duty. The mechanic catches people out: the 7% is not stacked on top of the 5.5% band — duty restarts at a fixed $194,137, then adds $7.00 per $100 above the threshold.
On a $4,000,000 residential purchase: $194,137 + ($130,000 ÷ 100 × $7.00) = $203,237 — an effective rate of 5.08%.
Premium duty is residential only — non-residential land above the threshold stays on the 5.5% rate. Where the land runs to more than 2 hectares, the premium rate applies proportionally to the first 2 hectares only.
When you actually pay
Duty is due at the earliest of settlement, or three months from the liability date — which for a standard purchase is the contract date. Most Sydney contracts settle at six weeks, so settlement is usually the deadline that bites; the three-month rule surfaces on long settlements and delayed completions.
Off-the-plan purchases can defer duty by up to a further 12 months, provided no purchaser is a foreign person and at least one purchaser moves in within 12 months of completion and lives there as their principal place of residence for 12 continuous months. It defers the payment date only — the amount does not change.
Sources
- Revenue NSW — How to calculate transfer duty (page updated 26 June 2026)
- Revenue NSW — Surcharge purchaser duty (page updated 26 June 2026)
- Revenue NSW — First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme
- Revenue NSW — Who pays transfer duty and when (page updated 27 May 2026)
- NSW Government — First Home Owner (New Homes) Grant