NT Stamp Duty Calculator
Calculate duty on your Northern Territory property purchase. Updated 2026–27 rates.
| Effective Rate | 0% |
| Total Purchase Cost | $0 |
How Stamp Duty Works in the Northern Territory
The Northern Territory is the only Australian jurisdiction that works out conveyance duty with an algebraic formula instead of a bracket table — for the first $525,000 of value, at least. Above that it switches to three flat percentages, and unlike every other state and territory it offers first home buyers no duty concession at all. Here is the whole scale, and what it does to a real purchase price.
NT conveyance duty rates, FY 2026–27
| Dutiable value | Duty payable |
|---|---|
| $0 – $525,000 | D = (0.06571441 × V²) + 15V, where V = value ÷ 1,000 |
| $525,001 – $2,999,999 | 4.95% of the whole dutiable value |
| $3,000,000 – $4,999,999 | 5.75% of the whole dutiable value |
| $5,000,000 and above | 5.95% of the whole dutiable value |
How it's calculated
Take a $450,000 home in Alice Springs. That sits under the $525,000 threshold, so the formula does the work, and V is simply the price in thousands — V = 450.
- V² = 450 × 450 = 202,500
- 0.06571441 × 202,500 = $13,307.17
- 15 × 450 = $6,750
- Duty = $13,307.17 + $6,750 = $20,057
That is an effective rate of 4.5% and $470,057 to settle. Put 450,000 into the calculator above with General selected and you will get those same three lines back.
What the formula does to your effective rate
The quadratic exists so the rate climbs smoothly with price instead of jumping at bracket edges — there is no point in the NT scale below $525,000 where one more dollar of price costs you a chunk of duty. It is also built to hand over cleanly: at exactly $525,000 the formula returns $25,987.53, and 4.95% of $525,000 is $25,987.50. Three cents apart.
| Dutiable value | Duty | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $2,157 | 2.16% |
| $250,000 | $7,857 | 3.14% |
| $350,000 | $13,300 | 3.80% |
| $450,000 | $20,057 | 4.46% |
| $500,000 | $23,929 | 4.79% |
| $525,000 | $25,988 | 4.95% |
| $800,000 | $39,600 | 4.95% |
The two cliffs above $3 million
The flat tiers apply to the whole dutiable value, not just the slice above the threshold — so crossing $3 million or $5 million is genuinely expensive.
- $2,999,999 at 4.95% = $148,500
- $3,000,000 at 5.75% = $172,500 — one extra dollar of price, $24,000 more duty
- $4,999,999 at 5.75% = $287,500, and $5,000,000 at 5.95% = $297,500 — a $10,000 step
On a commercial or high-end residential contract near either line, it is worth modelling whether a price a shade below the threshold leaves both sides better off than one a shade above.
House and land packages: the one duty exemption on offer
The House and Land Package Exemption wipes out duty entirely, and it is the largest saving available to an NT buyer. It applies where a registered building contractor sells you the land and builds a detached new home on it under a single contract signed between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2027. The builder must have bought the land from a developer and paid duty on it already, which is the logic of the thing — the duty has been paid once, so it is not charged again.
There is no price cap and no means test. At least one buyer must move in as their principal place of residence within 12 months of completion and stay for six continuous months. On a $650,000 package that is $32,175 you never pay.
First home buyers get cash, not a discount
The Territory runs its home-buyer support through cash grants rather than duty relief. Duty is assessed in full either way — the grant arrives separately, so it does not change what your conveyancer invoices at settlement.
- HomeGrown Territory Grant — $50,000 for first home buyers building or buying a home that has never been lived in. Contracts signed 1 October 2024 to 30 September 2027; applications close 30 September 2028. No cap on the build or purchase price. It replaced the old $10,000 First Home Owner Grant.
- FreshStart New Home Grant — $30,000 for buyers who already own or have owned a home and are building or buying new. Contracts to 30 September 2027; applications close 31 December 2027. You cannot claim both grants.
- The $10,000 established-home grant has closed — it only covered contracts signed between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025.
The practical consequence: an established home carries full duty and no grant, while a new build carries full duty and up to $50,000 back — or no duty at all if it comes as a house and land package.
Concessions that have expired (and still turn up in old advice)
Three NT concessions are widely quoted online and none of them can be claimed on a purchase today. The Territory's own home owner assistance page now lists only the grants and the house and land package exemption.
- First Home Owner Discount (FHOD) — applied to conveyances first executed on or after 24 May 2016 but before 7 May 2019.
- Territory Home Owner Discount (THOD) — capped at $18,601 on homes up to $650,000. This is where the widely repeated "$18,601 NT first home discount" comes from. It was never a first home buyer scheme, and it is gone.
- Principal place of residence rebate and the senior, pensioner and carer concession — same story.
All three sit in a division of the Stamp Duty Act that applies only to conveyances first executed on or before 30 June 2021. If a calculator or blog still knocks $18,601 off your NT duty, it is quoting a scheme that ended five years ago.
No foreign buyer surcharge
The NT and the ACT are the only jurisdictions that add nothing for overseas purchasers — there is no foreign purchaser surcharge anywhere in the Act. An offshore buyer of that $800,000 Darwin home pays $39,600, the same as a Territorian. The same purchase attracts an extra 8% in Victoria and 9% in New South Wales, which is a $64,000 to $72,000 difference. You can compare duty across all eight states and territories if you are weighing up where to buy.
Dutiable value, and when you pay
Duty is charged on the dutiable value — the consideration you agreed, or the unencumbered market value of the property, whichever is greater. Buying under market value from a relative does not reduce the duty; the Commissioner assesses on the higher figure.
The instrument must be lodged with the Commissioner within 60 days of first execution, and duty is due by that same date unless the notice of assessment sets a later one. Sixty days is generous by national standards, but the money still has to be there: duty is paid in cash at settlement and cannot be rolled into the loan, so it comes out of your deposit alongside conveyancing, searches and lenders mortgage insurance. Our settlement costs calculator adds those up, and the repayment calculator shows what is left to service once duty has taken its bite.