NSW stamp duty and land tax calculator

Using the two calculators

This page has two calculators. The transfer duty calculator works out general NSW transfer duty (including premium property duty) on a dutiable value, and can add surcharge purchaser duty for a foreign purchaser. The land tax calculator works out general land tax for an individual or company owner, special trust land tax, and surcharge land tax for a foreign owner, for the 2026 land tax year.

Both calculators deliberately stop short of the concessions. If your client may qualify for the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme, the spouse exemption, an SMSF concession or the corporate reconstruction reduction, the calculator will tell you it cannot compute that outcome and point you to the rule. Enter the dutiable value, not the price, where they differ.

What each calculator needs

Transfer duty general rates for 2026/2027

NSW transfer duty is charged on a sliding scale based on the dutiable value of the property. Dutiable value is the higher of the price paid and the market value. Revenue NSW publishes the following rates for the 2026/2027 financial year.

Premium property duty

Premium property duty applies to residential property only, where the dutiable value is above the premium threshold. For 2026/2027 the threshold is $3,870,000 and the rate is $194,137 plus $7.00 for every $100 over $3,870,000. If part of a residential property is used for business, Revenue NSW only uses the residential part when applying the premium rate.

Revenue NSW worked examples

The third example is the one accountants meet most. A related-party sale below market value is still dutiable on market value, and Revenue NSW will usually ask for a valuation where the transaction is not at arm's length.

Surcharge purchaser duty

A foreign person who acquires residential-related property in NSW may pay surcharge purchaser duty on top of transfer duty. It is a flat rate on the dutiable value. Revenue NSW states the current rate is 9% of the dutiable value.

Foreign individuals, trusts and corporations can all be caught. For trusts, foreign status turns on the trustee and the type of trust. For corporations, it turns on whether foreign shareholders hold a substantial interest or aggregate substantial interest. Revenue NSW lists exemptions for residential premises that are not dwellings, Australian-based developers building and selling housing, build-to-rent, and certain retirement village transactions. The Revenue and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2026 received assent on 29 June 2026 and amended Chapter 2A of the Duties Act 1997 for some build-to-rent and retirement village transactions.

The spouse exemption does not switch off surcharge purchaser duty. A foreign spouse may still be liable even where the transfer itself is exempt from transfer duty.

Concessions and exemptions accountants meet

First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme

For contracts exchanged on or after 1 July 2023, a first home buyer pays no transfer duty on a new or existing home valued at $800,000 or less, and a concessional rate may apply above $800,000 and below $1,000,000. For vacant land to build a home on, the exemption applies up to $350,000 and a concessional rate may apply above $350,000 and below $450,000. The main conditions: each buyer is an individual aged over 18 (not a company or trust), the transfer is of the whole property, at least one buyer is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and the buyer and their spouse or partner have never owned or co-owned residential property in Australia and have never received an exemption or concession under the scheme. For a home, one of the first home buyers must move in within 12 months of settlement and live there for at least 12 continuous months. Eligibility does not switch off surcharge purchaser duty for a buyer who is a foreign person. The calculator on this page does not compute the concessional amount. Use the Revenue NSW First Home Buyers Assistance calculator for that.

Transfers between spouses and de facto partners

A transfer between spouses or de facto partners is exempt from transfer duty where all of these apply:

• the property is a residential dwelling used as the couple's principal place of residence, or vacant land they intend to use as the site of it
• after the transfer, each spouse or partner owns equal shares (and any third party's share does not change)
• the property is used solely for residential purposes
• de facto partners have lived together for at least 2 continuous years before the transfer.

Investment properties and holiday homes do not qualify. Where a home is partly used for business beyond a single home office, a concession may apply to the residential portion only. The exemption and concession are in sections 104B and 104C of the Duties Act 1997. The exemption is not automatic and is claimed through the solicitor or conveyancer.

SMSF transfers

Revenue NSW does not charge duty on the instrument establishing an SMSF or on amendments to its deed. Transfers involving the fund are a different matter:

• Into the fund (section 62A). A member transferring property they own into their SMSF pays a concessional $750 where the conditions are met, including that the property meets SIS Act and ATO rules (generally business real property for related-party transfers), the property is held for the transferring members in the same proportions as before, and the fund is complying at the time or within 12 months.
• Custodian under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement (section 62B). A declaration of trust by the custodian attracts $750 where full duty (or section 62A duty) has already been paid on the purchase and the SMSF provided the purchase money.
• Between the trustee and a custodian (section 62). Moving property from the SMSF trustee to a custodian, back again, or between custodians, with no change in beneficial ownership, attracts a maximum of $750. This is the usual route for setting up or unwinding a limited recourse borrowing arrangement.
• Super rollovers (section 61). Property transferred between complying funds as part of rolling over a member's benefits attracts a maximum of $750 where the conditions are met.
• Out of the fund. The section 62A concession only applies going into the fund. Revenue NSW says full transfer duty generally applies when a member acquires property from their SMSF, for example on retirement, and duty also applies if a transfer causes the fund to stop being a complying fund.

Transfers to and from trusts

Transferring property into a trust is a dutiable transfer, and a declaration of trust over identified dutiable property is itself dutiable under the Duties Act 1997, both at the general rates on the dutiable value. Related-party transfers into a family trust are therefore assessed on market value like any other transfer. Concessional treatment is available in narrower cases, each claimed by application with evidence through eDuties: a change of trustee where the beneficial ownership does not change (section 54), and property vested in an apparent purchaser, where the trustee bought in its own name but someone else provided the purchase money (section 55). A transfer out of a trust to a beneficiary is not automatically exempt; check the specific provision before advising. Where a trustee is a foreign person, surcharge purchaser duty can apply to residential-related property. Revenue NSW says you should not assume that paying surcharge purchaser duty on the contract means no duty can apply to a later declaration of trust; it will take the earlier payment into account when assessing the later instrument, and a declaration of trust may be treated as a separate dutiable transaction.

Corporate reconstructions and consolidations

Under section 273B of the Duties Act 1997, an eligible corporate reconstruction or consolidation transaction on or after 1 February 2024 is charged at 10% of the duty otherwise payable. Before that date it was exempt. A corporate group is a parent and its subsidiaries, where the parent directly or indirectly holds at least 90% of the securities and voting control. Eligible transactions include transfers of dutiable property and acquisitions of an interest in a landholder from another group corporation. Declarations of trust are not eligible. Revenue NSW's example: a $1,000,000 transfer on 1 May 2024 with general duty of $39,735 was reduced to $3,973.50. That example used the rates in force at the time. Surcharge purchaser duty can still apply.

Landholder duty basics

Landholder duty applies when someone makes a relevant acquisition, meaning they acquire a significant interest in a company or unit trust that holds NSW land with an unencumbered value of $2 million or more. For acquisitions on or after 1 February 2024, a significant interest is:

• 50% or more in a private landholder
• 20% or more in a private unit trust scheme (other than registered wholesale or imminent wholesale unit trusts)
• 90% or more in a public landholder.

Interests are aggregated, so a client holding 45% of a private company who buys another 5% may trigger duty. Landholder duty is charged at transfer duty rates on the unencumbered value of the landholdings and goods, and acquisitions in the 3 years before the relevant acquisition are taken into account. An acquisition statement must be lodged and duty paid within 3 months. Foreign purchasers may also pay surcharge duty where the landholder has residential land.

Land tax for the 2026 land tax year

How the taxing date works

Revenue NSW assesses land tax on all taxable land owned at midnight on 31 December. Tax is charged for the full year following that taxing date and is not pro rata. A client who sells a taxable property in February still pays the full year. Changes in ownership or use during a year affect the next year's tax.

The value used is a 3-year average of the unimproved land values set by the NSW Valuer General as at 1 July. For the 2026 land tax year, that is the average of the values determined on 1 July 2023, 1 July 2024 and 1 July 2025. Land created less than 3 years ago (for example by subdivision) uses only the years since it was created.

Thresholds and general rates

Revenue NSW states that from 1 January 2025 the land tax thresholds are fixed at the figures below, which also applied for the 2024 land tax year.

The threshold applies to the combined value of all the owner's taxable NSW land, not property by property. Revenue NSW's example: values of $1,050,000, $1,100,000 and $1,150,000 average to $1,100,000. Taxable value is $25,000 and land tax is $25,000 × 1.6% + $100 = $500.

Companies

Companies receive the threshold. Related companies are grouped: one concessional company receives the threshold and each non-concessional company is assessed without it, at 1.6% of taxable value (or 2% where the group's combined value exceeds the premium threshold). Revenue NSW's examples: a concessional company with $1,200,000 of land pays $2,100, and a non-concessional company with $600,000 pays $9,600.

Special trusts

This is the rule that catches family groups. A special trust does not receive the land tax threshold. It is defined in section 3A of the Land Tax Management Act 1956 and can include family trusts, discretionary trusts, unit trusts and trusts created by a will, where the trust does not meet the criteria of a concessional trust or a fixed trust. Special trusts pay a flat 1.6% up to the premium threshold and 2% above it.

Revenue NSW's example: ABC Pty Ltd ATF ABC Family Trust owns land valued at $600,000 and pays $600,000 × 1.6% = $9,600. The same land held by an individual with no other land would pay nothing.

A fixed trust can receive the threshold if the deed meets the tests in section 3A, including that beneficiaries or unit holders are presently entitled to all income and capital and those entitlements cannot be affected by any discretion. A trust deed review before buying is worth more than an objection after.

Principal place of residence exemption

The home is exempt where the owner uses and occupies it as their principal place of residence. The main requirements:

• one exemption per family and one PPR worldwide
• the occupiers own at least 25% collectively
• the owner is a natural person, so land held by a company or special trust does not qualify
• continuous residential use since 1 July before the 31 December taxing date (with allowances for purchases after 1 July).

Concessions cover renting part of the home (for example one room or one flat), a single home office, building or renovating before moving in (up to 4 years, extendable to 6 in exceptional circumstances), moving between homes, and living away for up to 6 years.

Surcharge land tax for foreign persons

Foreign persons who own residential land in NSW pay surcharge land tax unless an exemption applies. There is no threshold.

It applies to each piece of residential land in proportion to the foreign owner's share, with no joint assessments or secondary deductions. Commercial land is excluded. Revenue NSW's example: a foreign owner of two residential properties with a combined land value of $1,200,000 pays land tax of $2,100 and surcharge land tax of $60,000, a total of $62,100.

For a discretionary trust, the trustee is treated as foreign unless no beneficiary or potential beneficiary is a foreign person and the deed cannot be amended to add one. A general exclusion clause is not enough if a foreign person is a named beneficiary; that person must be removed from the deed.

Quick reference for client conversations

For the Victorian equivalent, see stamp duty and land tax in Victoria. For property GST, see GST on property.