Transfer duty in NSW sits in the acquisition cost from day one. Miss the right bracket by a few thousand dollars of property value and the number at settlement is wrong by tens of thousands. Revenue NSW publishes the current rates, but the table changes every few years, so it is worth working from the 2025-26 version rather than memory.

This page is the short version of what actually applies right now: the standard brackets, the premium rate for expensive residential property, the surcharge for foreign persons, the first home buyer concessions, and the 2026 land tax thresholds. Everything is sourced from Revenue NSW.

Sydney suburban street showing old and new development side by side

NSW development in transition: Federation cottages alongside new townhouse builds. Every transaction here triggers a different duty calculation depending on value, buyer status, and entity structure.

Standard Transfer Duty Brackets (From 1 July 2025)

Revenue NSW uses progressive rates. The duty is calculated in steps up to the final bracket, not as a flat percentage.

Property value Duty
$0 to $17,000 $1.25 for every $100, minimum $20
$17,000 to $37,000 $212 plus $1.50 for every $100 over $17,000
$37,000 to $99,000 $512 plus $1.75 for every $100 over $37,000
$99,000 to $372,000 $1,597 plus $3.50 for every $100 over $99,000
$372,000 to $1,240,000 $11,152 plus $4.50 for every $100 over $372,000
Over $1,240,000 $50,212 plus $5.50 for every $100 over $1,240,000
Worked example: For a $1,000,000 residential purchase in NSW, transfer duty is $11,152 + $4.50 for every $100 above $372,000. That is $11,152 plus $4.50 × 6,280 = $39,412. If the buyer is a foreign person, add 9% surcharge purchaser duty on the dutiable value, roughly another $90,000, lifting the total to $129,412.

Premium Duty for Residential Property Over $3,721,000

From 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026, residential property above the premium threshold attracts a higher top rate.

Revenue NSW publishes the premium calculation as:

  • Premium threshold: $3,721,000
  • Rate above threshold: $186,667 plus $7.00 for every $100 over $3,721,000

That $186,667 is the exact duty payable at the threshold under the standard brackets, so the two curves join cleanly. Above the threshold, every extra dollar costs slightly more in duty than it would under the standard table.

How Duty Scales with Property Value

The brackets are easiest to read as a dollar amount at common purchase prices. Residential property only, 2025-26 rates:

NSW transfer duty grows roughly from 3.8% of price at $1M to 5.5% at $5M once premium duty applies. Source: DA Leads calculation from Revenue NSW brackets, 2025-26.

The practical read: anything over the $1,240,000 top-of-standard line pays an extra $5.50 per $100. Above $3,721,000 residential, the marginal rate steps up again to $7 per $100. For a site that will be held through construction and sold as apartments at $1M to $2M each, that duty curve lands on the buyer, not the developer, but it shapes how end product gets priced.

Surcharge Purchaser Duty for Foreign Persons

Revenue NSW raised surcharge purchaser duty from 8% to 9% for contracts dated from 1 January 2025. It is charged on top of standard transfer duty, calculated on the dutiable value of the residential-related property.

Who this hits: Foreign individuals, and some discretionary trusts, unit trusts, and corporations that do not satisfy the Revenue NSW definitions for an Australian person. Trustee classification can depend on who the default beneficiaries are, not just the settlor. If structure is layered, the surcharge question should be answered before exchange.

For residential acquisitions at $1M to $2M, a 9% surcharge adds $90,000 to $180,000 on top of standard duty. That is not a rounding issue on a feasibility model.

First Home Buyer Assistance Thresholds

Even if you are building for investors, first home buyer thresholds shape how end product prices in the market.

From 1 July 2023, Revenue NSW's First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme settings are:

New or existing homes - Full exemption: value up to $800,000 - Concessional duty: value from $800,000 up to $1,000,000

Vacant land - Full exemption: value up to $350,000 - Concessional duty: value from $350,000 up to $450,000

If completed apartments or house-and-land packages land close to the $800,000 line, price movement of even $20,000 can flip a buyer into or out of the full exemption. That changes the demand curve for the product, not just the buyer's cost.

Off-the-Plan: Timing, Not a Universal Discount

Off-the-plan is commonly discussed as if it were a blanket stamp duty reduction. In NSW, under the current Revenue NSW settings, the practical benefit is usually about deferral of payment timing, not a standard cut in duty for every buyer.

Eligible off-the-plan purchasers may have up to an additional 12 months to pay transfer duty, subject to the published requirements. That affects buyer cash flow and sometimes buyer appetite, but it is not the same as a universal price-side concession baked into the rate table.

Developers marketing off-the-plan should model it as a cash flow lever. Buyers' agents occasionally sell it as a price concession. That framing is wrong under the current rules.

Land Tax Thresholds for 2026

For sites that will be held across a land tax year, Revenue NSW has published these 2026 thresholds:

  • General threshold: $1,075,000
  • Premium threshold: $6,571,000

Land tax applies to the total taxable value of landholdings above the general threshold, at the rates published by Revenue NSW. Once a project runs past 31 December, land tax becomes part of the carrying cost.

Why this matters for DA timing: A site acquired mid-year and held through DA assessment, conditions and CC can easily cross two land tax years. Feasibility that models a 12-month timeline but ignores the 31 December trigger is understating carrying cost.

GST and the Margin Scheme

Transfer duty and GST are legally different. Developers often model them together because both hit the feasibility.

For new residential premises sold after construction, GST is in play. Where the acquisition and later sales qualify, the margin scheme can materially change the GST result. The setup needs proper accounting and legal advice rather than back-of-envelope assumptions, because the margin scheme election usually needs to be written into the contract of sale.

Comparing NSW With Other States

NSW transfer duty on a $1M house is not the highest in Australia, but it is in the upper tier once premium duty kicks in. For comparison walk-throughs of the other mainland states, see:

What to Check Before Exchange

  1. Use the 2025-26 Revenue NSW brackets, not a spreadsheet from a prior year.
  2. Confirm foreign-person status for every buyer entity before exchange, including trust beneficiary defaults.
  3. Check the $800,000 and $1,000,000 first home buyer lines if end product lands anywhere near those values.
  4. Treat off-the-plan as a cash-flow rule, not an automatic price reduction.
  5. Model land tax on any site likely to be held across 31 December.
  6. Flag premium duty for anything priced above $3,721,000 residential.

The DA Leads feasibility calculator includes NSW transfer duty and common surcharge settings, so the acquisition cost line updates as the purchase price changes. For the planning side of a NSW project, see the companion guide on NSW DA timelines and appeals.

Sources and Further Reading