Victoria charges land transfer duty, which most people call stamp duty, when property is bought or acquired in the state. It is worked out on the property’s dutiable value, which is usually the price paid, or the market value if that is higher, at general rates that the State Revenue Office publishes in steps.
General informationA reading of the State Revenue Office’s land transfer duty pages and its current general rates, updated 29 September 2026. It is not tax, legal or financial advice. The State Revenue Office assesses the duty on each transaction, and a conveyancer or solicitor can say how the rules apply to a particular purchase.
The value the duty is charged on
The figure that matters is the dutiable value, not simply the price on the contract. The State Revenue Office describes it as usually the price paid, or the market value if that is more. On its off-the-plan page it adds that where a contract price is below market value, it assesses duty on the property’s value at the contract date.
Two concessions measure vacant land in their own way. For the first home buyer relief, the office assesses vacant land on the land alone and leaves the building contract out; the principal place of residence concession does the same, looking at the value of the land and not the building contract.
Some concessions change the value before any rate is applied. Buying off the plan is the clearest case: construction costs incurred on or after the contract date come off the dutiable value, and land transfer duty is then calculated on the reduced amount. The off-the-plan guide works through one.
The general rates, as at 29 September 2026
These are the rates for contracts entered into on or after 1 July 2021. For an earlier contract, or a transaction under an agreement or arrangement made before that date, the office points to its historical rates instead.
| Dutiable value | Duty |
|---|---|
| Up to $25,000 | 1.4% of the dutiable value |
| Over $25,000, up to $130,000 | $350, plus 2.4% of the value above $25,000 |
| Over $130,000, up to $960,000 | $2,870, plus 6% of the value above $130,000 |
| Over $960,000, up to $2,000,000 | 5.5% of the whole dutiable value |
| Over $2,000,000 | $110,000, plus 6.5% of the value above $2,000,000 |
The top step is what the office calls a premium rate, which has applied to property transactions over $2 million since 1 July 2021. One feature of the table is easy to miss: between $960,000 and $2 million the rate is charged on the whole dutiable value, not only on the part above the step, which is why that row has no fixed starting amount.
The same page flags three cases where the general rates may not be the end of it: a first home; a later home with a dutiable value over $130,000 and no more than $550,000; and a new residential property inside the City of Melbourne’s local government area whose dutiable value is no more than $1 million, where a 50% concession or an exemption may be available, with different contract dates for each.
Two illustrative sums
Here is the table at work on two made-up values. Neither is a real purchase or a quote, and neither applies any concession or additional duty.
- Dutiable value
- $700,000
- Step
- $130,000 to $960,000
- Value above $130,000
- $570,000
- 6% of $570,000
- $34,200
- Plus fixed amount
- $2,870
- Duty at general rates
- $37,070
Worked from the general rates as at 29 September 2026.
- Dutiable value
- $1,200,000
- Step
- $960,000 to $2m
- Rate on whole value
- 5.5%
- Duty at general rates
- $66,000
Worked from the general rates as at 29 September 2026.
The State Revenue Office runs its own calculator to estimate duty when buying property in Victoria, linked from its land transfer duty page.
The form behind every purchase
Anyone who acquires land in Victoria submits a Digital Duties Form, even where the transaction is exempt, whoever the buyer is and whatever kind of property it is. Concessions are claimed on that form. For the principal place of residence concession, the office says the purchaser applies, a conveyancer usually helps during the transfer, and a conveyancer or solicitor will complete the form. For off-the-plan purchases, a conveyancer, solicitor, financial institution or their agent normally applies through Duties Online.
Where commercial property parts company
Victoria is moving commercial and industrial land onto a different footing. The State Revenue Office describes the commercial and industrial property tax as “a tax progressively replacing land transfer and landholder duty”. It is “an annual tax on the land value of commercial and industrial properties in Victoria”, payable 10 years after a property enters the reform, and a property in the reform can be exempt from land transfer duty and landholder duty.
The reform began on 1 July 2024, but properties do not enter it automatically. Most enter through an entry transaction, and not every sale is one: duty must be chargeable on it, land transfer duty must be chargeable on at least 50% of the property’s unencumbered value, and a transaction under an agreement or arrangement made before 1 July 2024 does not count. The entry page (updated 29 September 2026) lists every requirement. Until a property has moved across, land transfer duty applies to it as to any other property type.