Stamp duty in Victoria explained for 2026

Stamp duty is the single biggest upfront cost of buying a home in Melbourne after the deposit itself, and it's the one that catches people out. You budget for the price, the building inspection and the conveyancer — then a five-figure duty bill lands on the settlement statement.

This guide covers what stamp duty vic actually costs in 2026, how the State Revenue Office works out the number, and every concession that could wipe some or all of it off. If you're a first home buyer looking at a $650,000 apartment in Brunswick, or an investor eyeing a townhouse on the Mornington Peninsula, the rates below are the ones that apply to you.

Want the number for your own purchase before you read the detail? The free stamp duty quote calculator runs the current Victorian brackets in about 30 seconds.

Last updated: August 2026.

Key takeaways

• Stamp duty in Victoria on a $750,000 property bought as an investment or a second home is $40,070 in 2026 — calculated as $2,870 plus 6% of the value above $130,000.
• Eligible first home buyers pay $0 duty up to a dutiable value of $600,000, then a sliding concession applies from $600,001 to $750,000, and full duty above that.
• Victoria's legal name for stamp duty is land transfer duty, and it's charged on the dutiable value — the greater of the price you paid or the market value.
• The off the plan duty concession subtracts remaining construction costs from the contract price before duty is worked out, and it's been extended to contracts signed before 21 April 2027.
• Foreign buyers pay an extra 8% on top as foreign purchaser additional duty, which more than doubles the bill on most residential purchases.

What's in this guide

• How much is stamp duty in VIC in 2026?
• What is Victoria land transfer duty?
• What is dutiable value, and why does it decide your bill?
• Do first home buyers pay stamp duty in Victoria?
• How does the off the plan duty concession in Victoria work?
• What other exemptions and concessions apply?
• When do you pay stamp duty in VIC?
• What else should you budget for?
• Frequently asked questions

How much is stamp duty in VIC in 2026?

Stamp duty in Victoria ranges from about $16,000 on a $400,000 home to $110,000 on a $2 million property in 2026, depending on the value and who's buying. The rate is progressive — it climbs in brackets rather than applying one flat percentage.

Here's what the three main buyer types pay at common Victorian price points.

Methodology: these figures are produced by Leadkit's own stamp duty calculator, which applies the general and principal-place-of-residence duty brackets published by the State Revenue Office Victoria. It's our tool, not neutral third-party data — but the brackets it runs on are the SRO's published ones, and the worked examples below show the arithmetic so you can check it.

This is a price indication only. Your tradie will confirm the final price after assessing the job. For duty specifically, the figure that actually binds you is the SRO's assessment at settlement, which can differ if the property is valued above the contract price or a concession is refused.

Two things to notice in that table. The owner-occupier column only helps below $550,000 — above that, the PPR concession stops and everyone pays the same general rate. And at exactly $750,000 the first home buyer concession has tapered to nothing, which is why so many Victorian buyers stop bidding at $749,000.

What is Victoria land transfer duty?

Land transfer duty is the official name for stamp duty in Victoria — a one-off state tax charged when property changes hands. Every state calls it something slightly different; Victoria's Duties Act 2000 calls it duty on a dutiable transaction, and the SRO shortens it to land transfer duty.

It's charged to the buyer, not the seller. It applies to houses, apartments, vacant land and commercial property, and it applies whether you're buying at auction, by private sale, or off the plan.

A few things people assume wrongly:

• It isn't a percentage of your loan. It's charged on the property, so a bigger deposit doesn't reduce it.
• You generally can't roll it into the mortgage. Most lenders want duty paid from your own funds at settlement, which is why it eats into your deposit.
• There's no GST on stamp duty. But where GST is in the purchase price — a new apartment from a developer, for instance — duty is calculated on the GST-inclusive figure. You pay duty on the GST.

The rules and rates differ meaningfully across borders, so don't apply Victorian numbers to a Sydney purchase. We've covered the northern equivalent in our guide to stamp duty in NSW.

What is dutiable value, and why does it decide your bill?

Dutiable value is the amount your duty is calculated on — the greater of the price you paid or the property's market value at the contract date. It is not always the contract price, and that distinction is where most surprise assessments come from.

If you buy a Geelong house from your uncle for $400,000 when it's worth $700,000, the SRO assesses duty on $700,000. Related-party sales, transfers between family members and any deal that looks below market get valued.

Dutiable value also moves in your favour in two situations:

• Off-the-plan purchases, where remaining construction and refurbishment costs come off before duty is worked out (covered below).
• House-and-land packages, where duty can be assessed on the land value alone if the building contract is genuinely separate and signed after the land contract.

That second one is worth real money. On a $250,000 block in Tarneit with a $450,000 build contract, duty on the land alone is roughly $10,070 instead of the $31,070 you'd pay on a single $700,000 contract for the finished house. Get the contract sequencing wrong and you lose the difference — this is a conversation to have with a conveyancer before you sign, not after. Our conveyancing quote calculator gives you a ballpark on what that advice costs.

Do first home buyers pay stamp duty in Victoria?

No — eligible first home buyers pay zero stamp duty in Victoria on a home with a dutiable value up to $600,000, and a reduced amount between $600,001 and $750,000. Above $750,000 the first home buyer duty exemption vic offers nothing and standard rates apply in full.

The concession between the thresholds tapers on a straight line. Duty is your full duty multiplied by how far past $600,000 you've gone, divided by $150,000. Worked example on a $650,000 unit in Footscray:

• Full duty on $650,000 = $2,870 + 6% × $520,000 = $34,070
• You're $50,000 into a $150,000 band, so you pay one third
• Duty payable = $11,356

Push to $700,000 and you pay two thirds — $24,713. The concession is worth $22,714 at $650,000 and only $12,357 at $700,000, so every $50,000 you add to your offer costs you roughly $13,000 in lost concession on top of the price. Factor that into your borrowing limit, not just the purchase price. Our guide to how much you can borrow walks through how lenders treat these upfront costs.

To qualify you must be buying your principal place of residence, move in within 12 months and live there for at least 12 continuous months, and no purchaser can have owned residential property in Australia before. Separately, the First Home Owner Grant pays $10,000 on a newly built home up to $750,000 — that's a grant, not a duty concession, and you can receive both.

How does the off the plan duty concession in Victoria work?

The off the plan duty concession victoria offers works by subtracting the construction still to be completed from the contract price, so duty is charged on land value plus work done to date. It's the single largest duty saving available to Victorian buyers, and it isn't limited to first home buyers.

Under the temporary expanded version, the concession applies to apartments, units and townhouses in a strata subdivision — a plan of subdivision with common property, which rules out standalone house-and-land. Investors, companies and trusts can use it, not just owner-occupiers, and there's no price cap. It has been extended to contracts entered into before 21 April 2027.

The mechanics, using a $750,000 apartment in Docklands where the vendor certifies $420,000 of construction remained at the contract date:

• Contract price: $750,000
• Less remaining construction: $420,000
• Dutiable value: $330,000

Duty on $330,000 as an investor is $14,870 instead of $40,070. For a first home buyer it's better again — $330,000 is under the $600,000 threshold, so duty is nil on a $750,000 apartment.

The catch is timing. The earlier in the build you sign, the more construction remains and the lower your dutiable value. Sign after the building's finished and the concession is worth nothing, because nothing is left to build.

Working out your own number? Run it through the free stamp duty quote calculator — results are an indication only, and the SRO's assessment is the figure that counts.

What other exemptions and concessions apply?

Beyond first home buyers, Victoria offers concessions for pensioners, principal place of residence buyers, farmers and several family transfer situations. Most are once-only and most require you to apply — the SRO doesn't hand them out automatically.

1. Pensioner and concession cardholder reduction. A full exemption up to $600,000 and a sliding concession from $600,001 to $750,000, for eligible cardholders buying their principal place of residence. Once-only, and if you paid full duty when you were entitled to it you can claim a refund for up to five years.
2. Principal place of residence (PPR) concession. Applies where the dutiable value is between $130,000 and $550,000 and you'll live there. It knocks 1% off the marginal rate in the middle band — $3,700 saved on a $500,000 home.
3. Spouse and domestic partner transfers. Generally exempt when transferring between spouses or partners, including after a separation.
4. Deceased estate transfers. Property passing under a will or intestacy is exempt.
5. Young farmer exemption. For first-time farmland buyers under 35, up to set thresholds.

Running the other way is foreign purchaser additional duty — an 8% surcharge on residential property bought by a foreign purchaser, charged on top of standard duty. On a $900,000 Melbourne apartment that's $72,000 extra, taking the total from $49,070 to $121,070. It applies to foreign companies and trusts too, and trustee structures catch people out regularly.

Eligibility rules run to real detail. Check the State Revenue Office Victoria directly for current criteria, and see Consumer Affairs Victoria for the contract and cooling-off rules that sit alongside them.

When do you pay stamp duty in VIC?

Stamp duty in Victoria is payable within 30 days of settlement, and in practice it's paid at settlement itself through the electronic conveyancing platform. Your conveyancer or solicitor lodges the transaction through Duties Online and settles it in PEXA, so the money moves the same day title does.

That means you need the cash available before settlement — usually a week or two beforehand, when your conveyancer requests settlement funds. It cannot come from the loan unless your lender has specifically approved a higher borrowing amount to cover it, and it's not something you can defer.

Two timing traps:

• Off-the-plan settlements can be years after the contract date, but the duty rate and concession rules that apply are the ones in force at the contract date. Signing before 21 April 2027 locks in the current off-the-plan treatment even if the building isn't finished until 2029.
• Interest and penalty tax apply if duty is late. The SRO charges interest from day 31, so an unlodged transfer gets expensive quietly.

What else should you budget for?

Stamp duty is usually 60–70% of a Victorian buyer's total upfront costs, but the remaining third still runs to several thousand dollars. Budget for the lot before you set your maximum bid.

These are price indications only, and your provider will confirm the final price after assessing the job.

The one to watch is Lenders Mortgage Insurance. Stack it on top of stamp duty and a buyer with a 10% deposit on an $800,000 home in Preston can be $60,000 out of pocket at settlement before they've bought a fridge. If you're selling to buy, property selling costs come out of the other side of the same transaction, and conveyancing fees apply on both.

Across Leadkit's calculator library, finance and property is the second-largest vertical we run — 26 live calculators across 11 categories, behind only construction and building. Property costs generate more "what will this actually cost me" searches than almost anything else Australians buy, and duty is the number people most often get wrong.

Frequently asked questions

Q: How much is stamp duty on a $700,000 house in Victoria?

A: $37,070 for an investor or an owner-occupier, and $24,713 for an eligible first home buyer using the tapered concession. The general calculation is $2,870 plus 6% of the value above $130,000, which on $700,000 comes to $37,070. A first home buyer pays two thirds of that because $700,000 sits two thirds of the way through the $600,001–$750,000 concession band. If you're buying an apartment off the plan, the number could be far lower — or nil — because remaining construction costs come off the dutiable value first. You can check your own figure with the stamp duty quote calculator.

Q: Can I avoid stamp duty in Victoria?

A: Legitimately, yes — in specific situations. First home buyers under $600,000 pay nothing, eligible pensioners under $600,000 pay nothing, spouse and domestic partner transfers are generally exempt, and property passing through a deceased estate is exempt. Off-the-plan buyers can reduce dutiable value far enough to pay nothing at all. What you can't do is restructure a normal purchase to dodge duty. The SRO assesses on market value rather than contract price precisely to stop under-declared sales, and anti-avoidance provisions cover artificial arrangements. If a strategy sounds clever, run it past a conveyancer before you rely on it.

Q: Do first home buyers pay stamp duty on a $650,000 home in Victoria?

A: Yes, but only $11,356 instead of the full $34,070 — a saving of $22,714. The first home buyer duty exemption vic provides is complete up to $600,000 and then tapers away by $750,000. Because the taper is proportional, the concession shrinks fast: it's worth about $22,700 at $650,000, $12,400 at $700,000 and nothing at $750,000. If you're bidding near a threshold, work out the total cost of the next bid increment including the lost concession, not just the extra purchase price.

Q: Is stamp duty calculated on the purchase price or the valuation?

A: On the dutiable value, which is whichever of the two is higher. Buy at auction in a competitive market and the price is almost always above valuation, so the contract price is used. Buy from a family member at a discount and the SRO assesses on market value instead, and it may ask for a valuation to establish it. Where GST forms part of the price — typically a new build from a developer — duty is calculated on the GST-inclusive amount.

Q: Does the off the plan concession apply to houses?

A: Not to standalone houses on their own title. Under the temporary expanded concession the property must be an apartment, unit or townhouse in a strata subdivision, which is a plan of subdivision with shared common property. House-and-land packages are excluded, though they have their own path to a lower duty bill: if the land contract and the building contract are genuinely separate and the build contract is signed after the land contract, duty can be assessed on the land value only.

Q: How long do I have to pay stamp duty in Victoria?

A: Within 30 days of settlement, though nearly every purchase pays it on the day through Duties Online and PEXA. Your conveyancer will include it in the settlement figure and ask you for the funds shortly beforehand. If the transaction is lodged late, the SRO charges interest from day 31 and can apply penalty tax on top.

Q: Do I pay stamp duty when refinancing my home loan?

A: No. Land transfer duty applies when property changes hands, not when you change lenders, so a straight refinance to a new bank attracts no duty. Mortgage duty was abolished in Victoria in 2004. You will still face discharge fees, new loan establishment fees and possibly a fresh valuation — run the numbers with the home loan repayment calculator to work out whether the switch pays for itself.

Q: What is foreign purchaser additional duty?

A: An 8% surcharge on residential property bought by a foreign purchaser, charged on top of standard land transfer duty. It applies to individuals who aren't Australian citizens or permanent residents, and to foreign corporations and trusts. New Zealand citizens on a special category visa are generally treated as exempt. It's assessed on dutiable value, so on an $800,000 apartment it adds $64,000 to a $43,070 bill. Trust structures with any foreign beneficiary can trigger it unintentionally, so get the structure reviewed before signing.

Final tips before you sign a contract in Victoria

Work out your duty before you set your bidding limit, not after your offer is accepted. It's the largest single cost after the deposit and it changes what you can genuinely afford.

Three things worth doing this week:

• Check whether you're within $50,000 of a threshold. The $600,000 and $750,000 marks for first home buyers, and $550,000 for the PPR concession, are where an extra $10,000 on your offer can cost thousands in lost concession.
• If you're looking at apartments, ask for the construction cost breakdown early. The off the plan duty concession victoria applies is only as good as the vendor's certified remaining-construction figure, and you need it in writing.
• Confirm your eligibility with the SRO, not a forum. Concession rules on residency, prior ownership and occupancy periods are specific, and the SRO publishes the current criteria.

Stamp duty vic rules change with almost every state budget, and the off-the-plan settings in particular are temporary. What's true in August 2026 may not hold in 2028, so check the current position before you commit.

Want an instant stamp duty quote for your Victorian purchase? Use the free stamp duty quote calculator — it takes 30 seconds and there's no signup. Results are an indication only; your conveyancer and the State Revenue Office confirm the final figure at settlement. You can also browse the full range of property and finance calculators or the complete Leadkit calculator library.