Australian Capital Territory Stamp Duty Calculator

ACT stamp duty: owner-occupier rate or general rate

ACT conveyance duty depends first on who will live in the property. If all buyers are individuals and at least one will live in the home, the ACT Revenue Office applies the lower owner-occupier scale. Investors, companies and trusts pay the general scale. The ACT Revenue Office describes the government as continuing to reduce conveyance duty rates for residential property, and the owner-occupier scale has existed since 1 July 2021.

On a $750,000 Canberra home the difference is $2,992: $19,208 for an owner-occupier against $22,200 for an investor. At $1,200,000 it narrows to $2,992 ($46,758 against $49,750), and above $1,455,000 it disappears because both scales meet at a flat rate on the whole value.

Home Buyer Concession Scheme from 1 July 2026: no duty and no income test

From 1 July 2026 an eligible buyer under the ACT Home Buyer Concession Scheme pays no conveyance duty at any price, and the income test has been removed. Before that date the scheme had an income threshold based on the buyers' and their partners' income in the previous financial year, and the full exemption stopped at a property value cap. The ACT Revenue Office applies the rules by transaction date: the date of the grant, transfer or agreement for transfer, whichever comes first, which for most buyers is the day contracts are exchanged rather than settlement.

The scheme covers new homes, established homes and vacant residential land. It is not limited to first home buyers: the test is whether you and your partner have held any interest in property, anywhere in the world, in the 5 years before the transaction date. A buyer who sold a flat 6 years ago can qualify; one who owned a share of an inherited house last year usually cannot.

• Every buyer must be an individual aged 18 or over. You cannot claim if any buyer is a company, a trustee or a business partnership.
• Your domestic partner counts for the prior property test even if they are not on the title.
• At least one buyer must start living in the home within one year of settlement, or within one year of the certificate of occupancy and use for vacant land, and live there continuously for at least one year.
• If the residence requirement is not met, full duty becomes payable and penalty tax or interest may apply; the ACT Revenue Office says the default penalty tax rate is 25%.

Worked example: a couple buying a $950,000 townhouse

Consider a couple who sold an apartment 7 years ago and are buying a $950,000 established townhouse in 2026–27. Because neither has held property in the last 5 years, they qualify for the Home Buyer Concession Scheme and pay $0 in duty. In 2025–26 they would also have had to pass the income test.

If instead one partner still owned a share of an investment unit, the concession would not apply, but they would still get the owner-occupier rate and pay $31,008. Bought as an investment, the same townhouse attracts $34,000. The $2,992 gap between the two scales at this price is the value of living in the home.

How and when you pay conveyance duty in the ACT

ACT duty is paid after the sale, not at settlement. The ACT Revenue Office says duty is payable 14 days after the title is registered at Access Canberra, and the buyer or their agent has 14 days after settlement to lodge the transfer for registration. Once the title is registered, the Revenue Office emails a notice of assessment, and payment is due within 14 days by BPAY or electronic funds transfer.

Concessions are claimed by entering the concession code on the Buyer Verification Declaration before the transfer is lodged. Everything is self-assessed: the notice will reflect what you declared, and the Revenue Office says compliance checks may happen two years or more after the assessment. Keep your records for at least five years after settlement. Lodging the transfer late can attract penalty tax. The Revenue Office does not offer payment plans for conveyance duty and charges interest on late payment.

Duty is charged on the greater of the price and the market value. For a house and land package or an off-the-plan purchase where the seller builds before settlement, duty is on the combined value. If you buy land under one contract and sign a separate building contract, duty is on the land only, which can make a large difference for an investor paying the general rate.

Other ACT conveyance duty concessions and exemptions

Buyers who miss the Home Buyer Concession may still pay less or no duty. Besides the off-the-plan and pensioner schemes, the ACT Revenue Office lists a Disability Duty Concession Scheme and a Newly Unit Titled Duty Exemption, and says duty can be deferred in some circumstances. Check the Revenue Office's codes and supporting documents list before you sign the Buyer Verification Declaration, because the code you enter there is your claim.

Many transfers that are not purchases are exempt altogether. The Revenue Office's exemptions list includes:

• Personal transfers: deceased estates, matrimonial transfers, transfers of a principal place of residence between spouses, intergenerational rural transfers, and bankruptcy and insolvency transfers.
• Trust transfers, such as a change of trustee, property passing to beneficiaries and transfers back from a nominee.
• Transfers between superannuation funds, and between trustees and custodians of super funds.
• Corporate reconstructions, conversion of property to unit title, transfers relating to mortgages, and transfers to community housing entities and special disability trusts.