New South Wales Land Tax Calculator

Who pays land tax in NSW

You pay NSW land tax if the combined taxable value of the land you own at midnight on 31 December is above the $1,075,000 general threshold. The threshold applies to everything you own across the state added together, not to each property, so two investment units that are each well under the threshold can still create a bill once their land values are combined (Revenue NSW).

Individuals, companies and the trustees of fixed trusts are all assessed on the general scale. Special trusts, which include most discretionary family trusts, are the exception: they get no threshold at all, so a trust holding a single small block can be liable.

Co-ownership with a foreign person splits the two taxes. In Revenue NSW’s examples, the co-owners share responsibility for ordinary land tax, but surcharge land tax is charged only on the foreign owner’s share of the land, through a separate secondary assessment. The Australian co-owner pays no surcharge.

How the land value is set and averaged

Revenue NSW does not value land itself. It uses the unimproved land values issued by the NSW Valuer General as at 1 July each year, and then works out the taxable value as the average of the last three years’ values. For land created less than three years ago (for example a new subdivision lot), only the years since it was created are averaged.

Suppose your only investment property has Valuer General land values of $1,450,000, $1,600,000 and $1,780,000 for the last three years. The taxable value is the average, $1,610,000, giving land tax of $8,660. Had the latest value been used on its own, the bill would have been $11,380.

If you think the land value itself is wrong, that is a valuation objection lodged with the Valuer General, not a land tax objection. Revenue NSW can only review how the law was applied to your holdings.

NSW land tax calculator examples for 2026

The table below uses the calculator’s own engine. It shows the general scale, the special trust scale (no threshold) and a foreign individual who pays surcharge land tax of 5% on residential land on top of ordinary land tax.

Principal place of residence exemption and its time limits

Your home is exempt, but the exemption has conditions that catch people out when they move, build or live elsewhere for a while. According to Revenue NSW, you must have continuously used and occupied the property solely as your residence since 1 July before the 31 December taxing date, only one home per family qualifies worldwide, the people living there must own at least 25% between them, and the owner must be a natural person rather than a company or special trust.

• Moving between homes: if you take ownership of a new home between 1 July and 31 December and start living in it before 31 December the following year, both properties can be exempt for one land tax year. Between 1 July and 31 December you (and your household) must have been the only residents of the old home, and it must not have earned income other than from an excluded occupancy or a pre-settlement lease to the buyer.
• Building or renovating: the concession can cover land for up to 4 years after you take ownership while a home is built, if you then live there continuously for at least six months once it is finished, earn no income from the land once work begins, and the land cannot be developed for more than 2 residences under local planning rules. The Chief Commissioner can extend this to 6 years in exceptional circumstances.
• Living away: you can keep treating the property as your home for up to 6 years while you live in a home you do not own, provided you lived in it continuously for at least 6 months before leaving and you do not own another principal place of residence. You must also either earn only enough from it to cover basic costs such as rates and water, or not lease it out for more than 6 months in a calendar year. There is no time limit if you move into full-time care.
• Partial use: renting out one room, one suite of rooms or one flat, or running a home office from one room, does not by itself remove the exemption. Mixed-use land may be partly exempt.

Primary production and other exemptions

Land is exempt as primary production land when its dominant use is primary production carried on with the purpose of making a profit. Revenue NSW also lists exemptions for boarding houses, aged care, childcare, caravan parks, non-profit organisations and clubs. You apply for them through Land Tax Online.

Surcharge land tax for foreign owners

Surcharge land tax is a separate charge of 5% of the land value of residential land owned by a foreign person, with no threshold. A foreign individual whose only NSW property is an investment house with a land value of $900,000 pays $0 of ordinary land tax (the value is under the $1,075,000 threshold) but $45,000 of surcharge land tax.

Revenue NSW treats you as foreign unless you are an Australian citizen or a permanent resident who lived in Australia for at least 200 days in the calendar year. A permanent resident who lives overseas for 165 days or more in a calendar year (166 in a leap year) is a foreign person for that year. Residential land includes homes, homes being built, residential strata units and vacant residential-zoned land, but never primary production land.

The surcharge applies even when the land is exempt from ordinary land tax, and it does not apply to commercial land. A foreign owner who lives in the property may qualify for the separate intended principal place of residence exemption from the surcharge, and eligible Australian-based developers, including build-to-rent developers, can apply for an exemption, concession or refund.

Assessment notices, payment and objections

Revenue NSW issues an annual assessment notice for each land tax year. You can pay in full by the due date on the notice or, if the tax is not already overdue, set up an interest-free instalment plan in Land Tax Online. If the tax is already overdue, Land Tax Online lets you check whether you are eligible for an instalment plan for overdue land tax.

If you believe the law has been applied incorrectly (for example an exemption was refused or land you had sold before 31 December was included), you have 60 days from the notice to lodge an objection with Revenue NSW.

When you sell, the buyer will ask for a Section 47 clearance certificate, which must be provided at least 14 days before settlement and shows any unpaid land tax on the property. If your current assessment will be overdue by settlement day, Revenue NSW can issue a settlement letter so the amount is cleared from the sale proceeds.