ACT Stamp Duty Calculator
Calculate conveyance duty on your ACT/Canberra property purchase. Updated 2026–27 rates.
| Effective Rate | 0% |
| Total Purchase Cost | $0 |
How Stamp Duty Works in the ACT
The ACT calls its property transfer tax conveyance duty, charged by the ACT Revenue Office on the greater of contract price and market value. Since 1 July 2021 there have been two residential scales: a cheaper one for buyers who will live in the home, and the standard one for everyone else. The Owner-occupier toggle models Table 1, Investor / other models Table 2, and HBCS eligible returns $0.
ACT conveyance duty rates, FY 2026–27 — both scales
| Dutiable value | Owner-occupier (Table 1) | Investor / other (Table 2) |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $200,000 | $0.28 per $100 | $1.20 per $100 |
| $200,001 – $260,000 | $0.28 per $100 | $2,400 + $2.20 per $100 over $200,000 |
| $260,001 – $300,000 | $728 + $2.20 per $100 over $260,000 | $2,400 + $2.20 per $100 over $200,000 |
| $300,001 – $500,000 | $1,608 + $3.40 per $100 over $300,000 | $4,600 + $3.40 per $100 over $300,000 |
| $500,001 – $750,000 | $8,408 + $4.32 per $100 over $500,000 | $11,400 + $4.32 per $100 over $500,000 |
| $750,001 – $1,000,000 | $19,208 + $5.90 per $100 over $750,000 | $22,200 + $5.90 per $100 over $750,000 |
| $1,000,001 – $1,455,000 | $33,958 + $6.40 per $100 over $1,000,000 | $36,950 + $6.40 per $100 over $1,000,000 |
| Over $1,455,000 | Flat $4.54 per $100 of the total value | Flat $4.54 per $100 of the total value |
"Or part thereof" means the Revenue Office rounds the value up to the next $100 before applying the rate; our shared function is linear, so it understates by at most $6.40. Between $300,000 and $1,455,000 the two tables move in lockstep — an investor pays exactly $2,992 more than an owner-occupier at any price in that range.
How it's calculated
An $800,000 Canberra home sits in the $750,001–$1,000,000 bracket, 500 lots of $100 over $750,000. On Table 2 that is $22,200 + $5.90 × 500 = $25,150 (3.1% of the price); on Table 1 it is $19,208 + $5.90 × 500 = $22,158 (2.8%); under the HBCS it is $0. The ACT Revenue Office's own calculator returns the same two figures.
The top bracket is a cliff, not a step. An owner-occupier at $1,455,000 pays $63,078; at $1,455,100 the flat 4.54% applies to the whole price and the bill is $66,062 — $2,984 more duty for $100 more house. Table 2 is already at $66,070 by then, so for an investor the same $100 cuts the bill by $8.
| Purchase price | Owner-occupier | Investor / other | Effective rate (owner / investor) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $500,000 | $8,408 | $11,400 | 1.68% / 2.28% |
| $600,000 | $12,728 | $15,720 | 2.12% / 2.62% |
| $700,000 | $17,048 | $20,040 | 2.44% / 2.86% |
| $800,000 | $22,158 | $25,150 | 2.77% / 3.14% |
| $900,000 | $28,058 | $31,050 | 3.12% / 3.45% |
| $1,000,000 | $33,958 | $36,950 | 3.40% / 3.69% |
| $1,455,000 | $63,078 | $66,070 | 4.34% / 4.54% |
| $1,500,000 | $68,100 | $68,100 | 4.54% / 4.54% |
| $2,000,000 | $90,800 | $90,800 | 4.54% / 4.54% |
Owner-occupier rate vs the Home Buyer Concession Scheme
These are different things. Table 1 is a rate: every buyer is an individual and at least one lives in the home continuously for a year, starting within 12 months of settlement (or the certificate of occupancy for land) — no means test, no first-home requirement, concession code 406 on the Buyer Verification Declaration. The HBCS is a full exemption. From 1 July 2026 the income threshold was abolished, and so was the property value limit: the ACT Revenue Office states that all ACT residential properties are eligible, including new homes, established homes and vacant residential land. What remains is the prior-property test — you and your domestic partner must not have held a legal or equitable interest in any property anywhere in the world in the previous five years — plus living in the home as your principal place of residence continuously for one year, starting within one year of settlement. Our first home buyer calculator compares it with the other states. Source: ACT Revenue Office — About the Home Buyer Concession Scheme, checked 3 November 2026.
Unit buyers: two more ways to pay nothing
Contracts exchanged from 1 July 2026 for a unit-titled apartment or townhouse bought off the plan pay no duty, with no value cap (the FY 2025–26 cap was $1,020,000): buyers must be individuals, and one must live there for a year starting within 12 months of completion (Off the Plan Unit Duty Exemption). New from the same date, the Newly Unit Titled Duty Exemption gives nil duty on a finished unit bought directly from the developer within two years of the units plan registering, to a first occupant who stays a year. Investors get neither.
Pensioners and downsizers
The Pensioner Duty Concession Scheme lost its value limit on 1 July 2026: $0 duty on a home or vacant residential land, once only. Pensioner means Age Pension (Services Australia or DVA), Disability Support Pension aged 50 or over, a DVA Gold Card or, new from 1 July 2026, a DVA Service Pension. The buyer must have owned and lived in the former home, sell it within a year either side of the new title registering, keep the same names on the new title, and live there a year.
Investors: duty is deductible, and there is land tax
ACT land is held under 99-year Crown leases, so the ATO treats conveyance duty on an ACT rental as a lease document expense — deductible in full in the year incurred, to the extent the property produces rental income, apportioned if partly private (ATO — Rental properties 2025, rental expenses). It is not a borrowing expense spread over five years, and not deductible for an owner-occupier, where it joins the CGT cost base; someone claiming Table 1 or the HBCS cannot rent the place out in year one. On the $800,000 example that is a $25,150 deduction in the purchase year — worth modelling in the negative gearing calculator.
The ACT also levies land tax on residential property that is not the owner's principal place of residence — rented, vacant, or held by a company or trust — assessed quarterly; owners must notify within 30 days of becoming liable. From 1 July 2026 it is a fixed charge of $1,778 plus a charge on the Average Unimproved Value (About land tax · How land tax is calculated, checked 3 November 2026):
| Average Unimproved Value | Charge on AUV (plus $1,778 fixed charge) |
|---|---|
| Up to $150,000 | 0.54% |
| $150,001 – $275,000 | $810 + 0.64% over $150,000 |
| $275,001 – $1,000,000 | $1,610 + 1.24% over $275,000 |
| $1,000,001 – $2,000,000 | $10,600 + 1.25% over $1,000,000 |
| Over $2,000,000 | $23,100 + 1.26% over $2,000,000 |
Commercial property
Commercial property — mixed-use counts as commercial — pays nothing up to $2,100,000, raised from $2,000,000 on 1 July 2026. Above that the duty is a flat $5.00 per $100 of the whole amount, so $2,100,001 attracts $105,000 (Conveyance duty for commercial property).
When and how you pay
Under the Barrier Free model (since 18 September 2017) the rate is fixed by the exchange date, not settlement, but nothing is paid at exchange. After settlement there are 14 days to lodge the transfer with Access Canberra; the Notice of Assessment follows registration and is payable within 14 days by BPAY or EFT — no payment plans, interest on late payment (About conveyance duty). Duty is normally the largest line in a settlement statement; our settlement costs calculator adds the rest.
Vacant residential land uses the same two scales. A house-and-land package under one contract, or an off-the-plan purchase, is dutiable on the combined value; separate land and build contracts pay duty on the land only. The owner-occupier rate and the HBCS both cover vacant land, with the residence clock starting at the certificate of occupancy.
Sources
- ACT Revenue Office — Conveyance duty for non-commercial property and Taxation Administration (Amounts Payable — Duty) Determination, DI2026-155
- ACT Revenue Office — Conveyance duty for commercial property
- ACT Revenue Office — About conveyance duty
- ACT Revenue Office — About the Home Buyer Concession Scheme
- ACT Revenue Office — Off the Plan Unit Duty Exemption
- ACT Revenue Office — Newly Unit Titled Duty Exemption
- ACT Revenue Office — Pensioner Duty Concession Scheme
- ACT Revenue Office — About land tax and How land tax is calculated
- ACT Revenue Office — Tax reform and ACT Budget 2026–27 Outlook
- ATO — Rental properties 2025: Rental expenses, "Lease document expenses"