Transfer duty in WA: how it works and the first home owner rate
WA transfer duty calculator
Enter your purchase price and buyer type for an indicative amount. Choose a first home buyer option to see the first home owner rate applied.
Rates sourced from the RevenueWA transfer duty assessment page, verified 15 September 2026. Estimate only, not a formal assessment. Use the official RevenueWA Transfer Duty Calculator for a precise figure.
In Western Australia, stamp duty is officially called transfer duty. It is paid by the buyer to RevenueWA, and for most purchases it is the single largest cost. Unlike Victoria or the ACT, WA has no separate owner-occupier rate: an owner-occupier who is not a first home buyer pays exactly the general rate. This guide sets out the general rate table, the calculator, and the first home owner rate under the schedule that has applied since 7 May 2026.
What transfer duty is
Transfer duty is a State Government tax on the transfer of dutiable property, administered by RevenueWA, part of the Department of Treasury and Finance. Most people call it stamp duty; both names refer to 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 value.
Unlike Victoria, which charges a lower rate to any owner-occupier, WA charges the same general rate to an investor and to an owner-occupier who is not a first home buyer. The only concessional treatment in WA's transfer duty is the first home owner rate described below, which is narrower (first home buyers only) but more generous where it applies (a full nil-duty band, not just a lower rate).
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 paid before the transfer of land can be lodged with Landgate, so in practice it is settled at or before settlement. Your settlement agent lodges the duty assessment (usually through RevenueWA's online system as part of the electronic settlement) and makes sure it is paid on time, along with any first home owner rate you are entitled to.
General rate table
The general rate applies to investors, and to any owner-occupier who does not qualify for the first home owner rate below. It has applied since 1 July 2008.
| Dutiable value | Transfer duty |
|---|---|
| $0 to $120,000 | $1.90 per $100 (or part) |
| $120,001 to $150,000 | $2,280 + $2.85 per $100 over $120,000 |
| $150,001 to $360,000 | $3,135 + $3.80 per $100 over $150,000 |
| $360,001 to $725,000 | $11,115 + $4.75 per $100 over $360,000 |
| Over $725,000 | $28,453 + $5.15 per $100 over $725,000 |
Source: RevenueWA, transfer duty general rate, verified 15 September 2026 by running the official calculator. A separate, lower concessional rate also applies to a home or business acquisition valued at $200,000 or less, not modelled here because it is well below typical Perth purchase prices.
The first home owner rate of duty
Separate from the general rate, an eligible first home buyer gets the first home owner rate (FHOR) of duty. Unlike Victoria's sliding first home buyer concession, which tapers smoothly from a full exemption down to full duty, WA's FHOR is a flat concessional rate that applies only between a nil-duty threshold and a hard value cap. This schedule has applied since 7 May 2026:
- Established or new home (metro or Peel region): no duty at all up to $600,000; between $600,000 and an $800,000 cap, duty is 16.15% of the amount over $600,000. Above $800,000 the concession does not apply at all.
- Vacant land to build your first home on: no duty at all up to $450,000; between $450,000 and a $550,000 cap, duty is 20.14% of the amount over $450,000. Above $550,000 the concession does not apply at all.
A lower non-metro/Peel established-home rate also exists for regional buyers, with its own cap; this guide models the metro/Peel rate above, which covers Perth and the Peel region. Full eligibility rules and the vacant land examples are in the first home buyer WA guide.
The $800,000 cap: not a cliff
Victoria's owner-occupier concession creates a genuine cliff at its $550,000 boundary, where an extra dollar of price costs thousands of dollars in lost concession. WA's FHOR cap behaves differently, and it is worth being precise about the difference because it is a common point of confusion:
- At exactly $800,000, a first home buyer under the FHOR pays $32,300.
- The general rate at the same $800,000 is $32,316, only about $16 more.
- At $810,000, just over the cap, the concession no longer applies at all and the buyer pays the full general rate of $32,831 on the whole price.
In other words, the 16.15% concessional rate is calibrated so that duty converges to almost exactly the general rate right at the $800,000 cap, rather than jumping sharply the way Victoria's PPR rate does at its $550,000 boundary. The same convergence happens on vacant land: at the $550,000 land cap, the FHOR duty of $20,140 matches the general rate of $20,140 exactly. So crossing the cap does not itself cost you a sudden jump in duty on the amount up to the cap, it simply means you stop getting any concession on everything above it, which for a first home buyer still deciding on a budget is the more useful thing to know.
Worked examples
Each figure below is computed from the rate tables above, at the current rates verified on 15 September 2026:
- Standard buyer at $600,000: $22,515 at the general rate. A first home buyer at the same price pays $0.
- First home buyer at $700,000: $16,150 under the FHOR, versus $27,265 at the general rate, a saving of $11,115.
- First home buyer at $800,000 (the cap): $32,300 under the FHOR.
- Standard buyer at $1,000,000: $42,616.
- First home buyer, vacant land at $500,000: $10,070 under the land FHOR.
Talk to a WA settlement agent or property lawyer
Tell us about your matter and we will pass your details over to independent legal partners who can be in touch within 24 hours.