Duty on $400,000 of vacant land
| State | General rates | First home buyer | Concession |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | $12,187 | $7,218 | First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme (vacant land) |
| VIC | $19,070 | $0 | First home buyer exemption or concession |
| QLD | $12,425 | $0 | First home vacant land concession |
| WA | $13,015 | $0 | First home owner rate (vacant land) |
| SA | $16,330 | $0 | First home buyer relief (new homes and land) |
| TAS | $13,998 | $13,998 | None |
| ACT | $8,000 | $0 | Home Buyer Concession Scheme |
| NT | $16,514 | $16,514 | None |
From this site's calculator for a contract dated today, assuming the buyer meets every condition.
Land and the house are separate
When you buy land and sign a separate contract with a builder, duty is charged on the land only. The building contract is not a transfer of land, so it isn't dutiable. That makes "land then build" cheaper in duty than buying a finished new home of the same total value, which pays duty on the whole price (unless a new home exemption applies, as in Queensland and South Australia for first home buyers).
Be careful with house and land packages sold under one contract, or where the land is bought after building has started: the dutiable value may include the house. Each state treats these differently; check before you sign.
First home buyer land concessions
- NSW: nil to $350,000, phase-out to $450,000.
- Victoria: the same $600,000 and $750,000 thresholds as homes, applied to the land value.
- Queensland: nil, no cap, if you build and move in within 2 years.
- WA: nil to $450,000, then $20.14 per $100 to $550,000.
- SA: nil, no cap.
- ACT: nil under the Home Buyer Concession Scheme.
- Tasmania and NT: no first home land concession.
Conditions
Land concessions come with building and occupancy deadlines: you must build a home, move in within a set period after the certificate of occupancy (or a fixed time after settlement), and live there for 6 to 12 months. Delays from builders are a common problem; some states let you apply for an extension. If you sell the land without building, the concession is withdrawn.
Investors and developers
Investors pay general rates on land, and foreign purchasers pay the surcharge on residential land. Land bought for a commercial development may be non-residential; in South Australia qualifying non-residential land pays no duty at all.
How duty is worked out
Duty is charged on the dutiable value: usually the price, or the market value if that is higher (for example a transfer between family members). Each state publishes a sliding scale of brackets. Within a bracket, you pay a fixed amount for the value up to the bracket's lower limit, plus a percentage of the amount above it. Several states charge "per $100 or part of $100", which rounds the excess up to the next $100. The calculator shows the bracket it used and the arithmetic, so you can check it against the revenue office's own figures.
Concessions then reduce the duty: full exemptions up to a price limit, phase-outs that taper the saving to nil, lower rates for owner-occupiers, or a fixed reduction. Each has conditions, usually about living in the property and not having owned one before; the calculator asks them as yes/no questions.
Valuing the land
Duty is on the price you pay for the land, or its market value if that is higher. If you buy land from a developer who also builds, the revenue office may look at whether the two contracts are really one arrangement. Keep the land contract and the building contract separate, signed in the right order, and on commercial terms.
Before you sign
Run your exact price, property type and buyer details through the calculator, then confirm the figure with the revenue office's own calculator or your conveyancer. Rules change at state budgets and on 1 July, and the date of your contract decides which rules apply. Each state page lists when its figures were last checked and anything that could not be confirmed.