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Guide · Stamp Duty · QLD

Queensland transfer duty — exactly how it works.

QLD has the most generous first-home concession on the east coast: full exemption on established homes to $700K, and $0 transfer duty on eligible new homes and vacant residential land from 1 May 2025 with no price cap. Here's the full schedule, the concession bands, and a worked example.

Reviewed · Adam King — 30 years in finance, Sunshine Coast

How QLD calculates it

Queensland uses a marginal-rate system: a base duty for each band plus a marginal rate on the portion of the price above the band's lower bound. The dutiable value is the contract price or market value, whichever is higher. There's no separate mortgage duty in Queensland — that was abolished some time ago. For PPR (owner-occupied) purchases, a 'home concession' kicks in below $550K, which is a different schedule again — most owner-occupier buyers under that threshold pay materially less. Above $550K, you're on the standard transfer duty rates below.

QLD transfer duty — standard schedule

Dutiable valueDuty
$0 – $5,000Nil
$5,000 – $75,000$0 + 1.5% over $5,000
$75,000 – $540,000$1,050 + 3.5% over $75,000
$540,000 – $1,000,000$17,325 + 4.5% over $540,000
Over $1,000,000$38,025 + 5.75% over $1,000,000

Indicative QLD transfer duty as at 2026-05. Source: Queensland Revenue Office. Subject to change at state budget.

Worked example — $850K purchase, Maroochydore

  • Standard duty

    $31,275

    $17,325 + 4.5% × $310,000 ($850K − $540K)

  • first-home buyer exemption (new build)

    $0

    Eligible new homes and vacant residential land have no price cap from 1 May 2025

  • established-home duty at $850K

    $31,275

    Established-home first-home concession has tapered out above $800K

  • new-build duty at $850K

    $0

    If the same buyer purchased an eligible new build, duty would be $0

First-home buyer concession

QLD's first-home concession is one of the most generous in Australia. Buy an established home as a first-home buyer for $700,000 or less and transfer duty is $0. Between $700,001 and $800,000, a tapered concession applies — you pay duty on the portion above $700K, scaled. Buy an eligible new home, off-the-plan property, substantially renovated home, or vacant residential land to build your first home from 1 May 2025 and transfer duty is $0 regardless of price. The old $800K/$1M new-build taper no longer applies. To qualify for the duty concession: you (and any co-buyer) must never have held an interest in residential land anywhere in the world, you must move in within 12 months, and you must meet the requirements to keep the concession after moving in. There's also a $30,000 First Home Owner Grant on eligible new builds under $750K — the boosted amount has applied to contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023 and was extended by the 2026-27 QLD Budget for a further four years. It's separate from the duty concession and has its own citizenship/residency test.

Sunshine Coast context

Most local buyers fall *just over* the threshold.

Maroochydore, Buderim, Mooloolaba — median established prices have crept past $850K, meaning many first-home buyers miss the established-home concession. New-build and eligible vacant-land purchases are the workaround because the first-home transfer-duty exemption is uncapped from 1 May 2025. Buying with a partner who hasn't owned before, when one of you has, is another issue worth checking before contract.

Other QLD concessions

  • Home concession (non-first-home buyer): Owner-occupiers under $550K get a reduced rate — relevant on cheaper purchases.
  • Off-the-plan (temporary concession): For eligible off-the-plan apartments, units and townhouses in a strata subdivision, a temporary concession lets you exclude the construction work done after the contract date from the dutiable value — so duty is charged on roughly the land-plus-work-completed value, not the full price. It's open to all buyers (owner-occupiers and investors) with no price cap, but it applies only to contracts signed before 21 October 2026. This is a separate, time-limited concession — confirm current eligibility and the cut-off date with the Queensland Revenue Office before contract.
  • Family transfer: Spousal transfers of PPR are exempt; other family transfers attract duty on market value.
  • Foreign buyer surcharge: Additional Foreign Acquirer Duty (AFAD) of 8% on top of standard duty for foreign buyers.

When you pay

Transfer duty is payable within 30 days of the contract date, or before settlement — whichever is sooner. In practice, your solicitor or conveyancer collects it from you a few days before settlement and remits it to the Queensland Revenue Office (QRO) on the day. The title transfer can't register until duty is paid. For most buyers this is a single payment from savings. If you're tight, a guarantor structure can let you borrow the deposit + duty against family equity — worth a conversation before you go to contract.

Questions you might have

The honest answers.

Real numbers · honest answers

QLD stamp duty — worked into your *whole* picture.

Pre-approval, deposit, concessions, FHOG, settlement costs — modelled together. Twenty-minute call.

Keep reading

General information only — not personal credit advice. Rates and figures shown are indicative and subject to confirmation against current lender pricing and policy.