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

What is stamp duty in WA?

Stamp duty in Western Australia is officially called transfer duty. It is a state tax on the transfer of property, charged on the purchase price (or market value, whichever is higher). For most buyers it is the single biggest upfront government cost after the deposit itself.

The buyer pays it, not the seller. It is assessed on the contract and almost always settled at the same time as the property, so it forms part of the money you need ready on settlement day rather than something you can pay off later. RevenueWA administers it, and your conveyancer or settlement agent handles the assessment and payment on your behalf.

WA stamp duty: what you’ll actually pay

Here is what transfer duty costs a standard owner-occupier across a range of Perth and regional WA price points, alongside where an eligible first home buyer lands at the same price.

These are owner-occupier estimates and they exclude any foreign buyer surcharge. For an exact figure on your own price, run the numbers in our stamp duty calculator.

How WA stamp duty is calculated

WA charges duty on a marginal sliding scale, the same way income tax works. The price is split into bands, and each band is taxed at its own rate. You do not pay one flat percentage on the whole price. Instead you pay a fixed base amount for the band you land in, plus a marginal rate on the portion of the price above that band’s lower edge.

These are the residential and owner-occupier transfer duty brackets WA uses:

Worked through on a $650,000 home, that means $11,115 for the band up to $360,000, plus 4.75% on the remaining $290,000, which comes to $24,890. That matches the figure in the table above and the calculator.

First home buyers in WA

WA’s first home owner rate of duty gives an eligible first home buyer $0 duty up to $450,000, with a concessional sliding scale from $450,001 to $600,000. Above $600,000 standard duty applies in full, which is why a first home buyer on a $650,000 home in the table pays the same $24,890 as everyone else.

WA reviews these thresholds periodically, so confirm the current figures before you buy. The duty concession is also separate from the First Home Owner Grant, which is a cash grant with its own rules. For the full grant and scheme detail, see our WA first home buyer guide.

Foreign buyers and surcharges

WA charges a 7% foreign buyer duty surcharge on residential property bought by foreign persons. It sits on top of the standard transfer duty, so a foreign buyer pays the normal duty plus 7% of the property value again. The surcharge applies to foreign individuals, corporations and trusts buying residential land, and the first home concession does not offset it.

When do you pay stamp duty in WA?

Transfer duty is generally paid at settlement, and the law requires it to be paid within roughly three months of the transaction. You will not be writing a separate cheque to RevenueWA yourself in most cases. Your conveyancer or solicitor lodges the transaction, gets it assessed, and arranges the duty payment as part of settlement, drawing on the funds you bring to the table.

The practical point is to treat duty as cash you need up front, not a cost you can finance separately. Build it into your deposit and settlement budget from the start, and check the exact amount for your price with the stamp duty calculator.