Stamp Duty QLD: Calculator, Rates & First Home Buyer Concessions (2026)

What is stamp duty in QLD?

Stamp duty, officially called transfer duty in Queensland, is a state tax you pay when ownership of a property changes hands. It’s the biggest upfront government cost in a purchase after your deposit, and on a typical home it runs to tens of thousands of dollars.

The buyer pays it, not the seller, and it’s normally settled at or before settlement rather than spread over time. The amount is worked out from the price you pay (or the property’s value, if that’s higher), which is why it’s worth knowing your number before you set a budget. Get the duty wrong and your real cash-to-buy figure is wrong too.

QLD stamp duty: what you’ll actually pay

Here’s what transfer duty looks like across a range of Queensland prices, for a standard owner-occupier and for an eligible first home buyer side by side.

These are owner-occupier estimates and exclude any foreign surcharge. For an exact figure on your price, use the full stamp duty calculator.

How QLD stamp duty is calculated

Queensland transfer duty is tiered, also called marginal. You don’t pay one flat percentage on the whole price. Instead each slice of the price is taxed at its own rate, and the bands stack. The brackets below are the ones the calculator on this page uses for an owner-occupier home.

So on a $650,000 home you pay the fixed $17,325 for the band up to $540,000, then 4.5% on the remaining $110,000, which lands at $22,275. Because the higher rates only ever apply to the top slice, the effective rate creeps up slowly as prices rise rather than jumping.

First home buyers in QLD

Queensland’s first home concession (with rates updated 9 May 2024) is the big saving for eligible buyers. It gives a full concession up to $700,000, then phases out to $800,000. Above $800,000 standard duty applies with no first home discount at all.

• Full concession up to $700,000: an eligible first home buyer pays $0 transfer duty.
• Phase-out $700,000 to $800,000: the concession reduces on a sliding scale as the price rises.
• Above $800,000: no first home concession, so standard duty applies in full.
• First home vacant land concession:a separate concession applies on eligible vacant land up to $500,000 if you’re building your first home.
• First Home Owner Grant: a cash grant is available on new builds, separate from the duty concession.

For the full grant amounts, scheme detail and eligibility rules, see our QLD first home buyer guide.

Foreign buyers and surcharges

Queensland charges foreign buyers an extra 8% additional foreign acquirer duty (AFAD) on residential property, on top of the standard transfer duty. So a foreign person buying a $650,000 home pays the standard $22,275 plus a $52,000 surcharge. The first home concession does not apply to foreign acquirers, so the AFAD effectively doubles the cost of entry for many overseas buyers.

When do you pay stamp duty in QLD?

Transfer duty in Queensland is generally payable within about three months of the liability date, which for most purchases is when you sign the contract. In practice it’s settled at or before settlement, and your conveyancer or solicitor handles the calculation and payment as part of completing the purchase. You rarely deal with the Queensland Revenue Office yourself, but the money still has to be ready, so build it into your cash-to-buy alongside the deposit and conveyancing costs.