Transfer duty in Queensland: how it works

In Queensland, stamp duty is officially called transfer duty. What you pay depends on the price, whether you will live in the property, and whether you are a first home buyer, and for most buyers it is the single largest cost of a purchase. This guide sets out the standard rate table, the calculator, the owner-occupier home concession, and the first home concession, including the separate uncapped scheme for brand new homes and vacant land, all checked against the current Queensland Revenue Office rates.

What transfer duty is

Transfer duty is a Queensland Government tax on the transfer of property, administered by the Queensland Revenue Office. Most people call it stamp duty; the two terms mean the same tax. It applies when you buy a house, unit, or vacant land, and is calculated on the greater of the purchase price or the property's unencumbered (market) value.

Queensland charges different rates depending on how you will use the property and whether you are buying your first home. An owner-occupier moving into the home qualifies for the lower home concession rate, an eligible first home buyer can do better again under the first home concession, and an investor, or anyone not living in the property, pays the standard rate set out below.

Who pays transfer duty and when

The buyer pays transfer duty, not the seller. It is a cost on top of the purchase price, and for most residential buyers it is the largest single transaction cost.

Duty must be assessed and paid before the transfer can be registered with Titles Queensland, so in practice it is settled at or before settlement. Your solicitor lodges the duty assessment (usually electronically) and makes sure it is paid on time, along with any home concession or first home concession you are entitled to.

Queensland transfer duty calculator

Enter your purchase price and buyer type for an indicative amount. Choose a first home buyer option to see the established-home concession applied.

Rates sourced from the Queensland Revenue Office transfer duty rates, verified 15 July 2026. Estimate only, not a formal assessment. Use the official Queensland Revenue Office transfer duty estimator for a precise figure.

Standard (investor) rate table

The standard rate applies to investors and to anyone buying a property they will not live in. It is not what an owner-occupier pays: if you are moving into the home, see the home concession below instead.

Source: Queensland Revenue Office, transfer duty rates, verified 15 July 2026. An 8% foreign acquirer duty surcharge applies on top for a foreign person buying residential land, not modelled here.

The owner-occupier home concession

This is the concession most Queensland owner-occupiers actually get, and it is easy to miss because it is separate from the first home concession below: you do not need to be a first home buyer to qualify. Any buyer who will move in and live in the property as their main home within a year of settlement, and continue living there, pays a lower rate than the standard table above, on the whole dutiable value, not just a first-home-only slice.

The Queensland Revenue Office's own description of the concession confirms the shape of the saving: the home concession applies a reduced rate of $1.00 per $100 (instead of $1.50 per $100 at the standard rate) on the first $350,000 of the property's value, with reduced rates continuing above that band too. Because the exact bracket table is a distinct schedule from the standard rate table above, this page does not reproduce it as a second full table; use the Queensland Revenue Office's own home concession rates page or its transfer duty estimator for your exact figure.

First home concession: nil duty to $700,000

Separate again from the home concession, eligible first home buyers of an established or existing home get their own, more generous treatment:

• Full exemption: no transfer duty at all on a home valued at $700,000 or less.
• Concession: a reduced amount on a home valued above $700,000 and below $800,000, phasing out to the full home-concession rate at $800,000.
• No first home concession: from $800,000 up, only the home concession above applies (if you are moving in), not the first home concession.

To be eligible you (and any co-buyer relying on the concession) must never have held an interest in a home anywhere in Australia or overseas, be buying as an individual, move in within 1 year of settlement, and live there on a daily basis. You cannot sell or transfer the property before you move in, and a partial concession applies if you sell within a year of moving in. Full eligibility rules are on the Queensland Revenue Office first home concession page.

The uncapped new home and vacant land concession

From 1 May 2025, Queensland introduced a genuinely different, more generous concession for two specific situations, and it does not have the $700,000/$800,000 ceiling above at all:

• First home (new home) concession: for a contract dated 1 May 2025 or later to buy a home that has never been occupied or sold as a place of residence (or a substantially renovated home that qualifies as a new home for GST purposes), transfer duty is reduced to nil, with no value cap on the home and its residential land.
• First home vacant land concession: for a contract dated 1 May 2025 or later to buy vacant land on which you will build your first home, transfer duty on the residential vacant land portion is also reduced to nil, with no value cap. At $1,200,000, for example, an eligible first home buyer of qualifying vacant land pays nil transfer duty, illustrating that the cap really has been removed rather than merely raised.

You must build and move into the home within 2 years of settlement for the vacant land concession (1 year for the new home concession), and the other first home eligibility rules above still apply. Full detail is on the Queensland Revenue Office's first home (new home) concession page and first home vacant land concession page. Because this scheme depends on the property genuinely being new, or the land genuinely being vacant, at contract date, confirm your own eligibility with your solicitor before assuming it applies.

The $30,000 First Home Owner Grant

Separate again from every concession above is a cash grant. The $30,000 First Home Owner Grant (new homes only) is paid by the Queensland Revenue Office to eligible first home buyers who buy or build a new home. Its conditions are narrower than the duty concessions: new home (never previously lived in) valued under $750,000 including land; must move in within 1 year of settlement and live there continuously for at least 6 months. Extended to contracts signed up to 30 June 2030.

The key distinction is the same one that matters for duty: new versus established. The first home concession above can apply to an established home as well as a new one, but the grant does not: it is for a newly built or never-occupied home only. For an eligible new home, the uncapped new home concession and the $30,000 grant can both apply to the same purchase.

Worked examples: first home concession (established home route)

Each figure below uses the established-home first home concession, computed from the current Queensland Revenue Office rates (verified 15 July 2026), shown against the standard (investor) rate at the same price. Remember an owner-occupier who is not a first home buyer would pay the lower home concession rate, not this standard column; see the home concession above.

Duty computed from the Queensland Revenue Office standard rates and the first home concession thresholds ($700,000 full exemption, phasing out to $800,000), verified 15 July 2026. Estimate only. Use the official Queensland Revenue Office estimator for a precise figure.

Conveyancing Explained provides general information about property transactions in Australia. It is not legal advice and does not create a client relationship. For advice on your situation, engage a licensed conveyancer, settlement agent, or property solicitor in your state or territory.