Stamp Duty for Property Flippers: State-by-State Costs in 2026

The stamp duty for property flippers can be quite expensive – around $17,000 on a $700,000 property, depending on the state that actually completes the transfer. For example, that property would cost an investor $20,040 in stamp duty in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and $37,070 in Victoria – that's a difference of 15 weeks of holding costs before any trade is made.

This figure compares the uniform stamp duty in each of the 8 jurisdictions. It displays the computed duty at 4 different purchase prices (as the cost of another $10,000) and displayed as weeks of holding costs. Additionally, each source used in this report has been graded; because I was able to get the official tables for 4 of the jurisdictions, but had to resort to secondary sources for the other 4. Every dollar amount in this report is calculated from the published brackets, in python.

Stamp Duty for Property Flippers Source Grades: Which Tables I Read

A duty table is of course directly related to where the information comes from. Because if a duty table is listed as being Grade A, it indicates it is from the official page of the state revenue office. If this is not the case it is rated C.

Grade C sources should be read more carefully. Victorian sources support a split above $960,000. Armstrong Legal has an overall rate of 5.5% but states no excess rate; Prop Boss shows a marginal rate of 5.5% above $960,000. The two give a difference of exactly $130 at every dollar of price within this range. The author has decided to use the flat reading, which gives a duty of $60,500 at $1,100,000 (compared to $60,370 from the other source).

Official site of the ACT has only these 2 elements covered: owner-occupier rate, and the government's current program to cut the residential conveyance duty. The brochure by NT is about business property. The author used Aussie's examples as an example as its reader guide at $400,000 and $500,000 is the same as the value in the brochure formula. Four Grade C columns should be viewed as estimates.

Stamp Duty for Property Flippers Ruler: Duty at Four Prices in Eight Jurisdictions

The investors were all on the general schedule. The author ran each table against a standard purchase price and then always round to the next highest, in accordance with the table. The rows are in range of the duty of $700,000; the lowest figure in each column is the table for the ACT.

The spread between the cheapest and most expensive state is between $13,670 at $500,000 to $18,020 at $900,000. There are three interesting observations in that data:

Firstly, the ACT is clearly cheaper overall – though this does not mean 'free' (ACT Revenue Office have said they will keep lowering the residential conveyance duty. The author has not included the annual costs associated with replacing this duty).

Secondly, Queensland has a cheaper duty than NSW on properties up to $900,000 but from there it gradually becomes more expensive than NSW at about $1,085,000 with an even steeper rate at $1,097,000. At $1,000,000 rate in Queensland is 5.75 cents/ dollar and in NSW it remains 4.5 cents until $1,290,000. Tasmania is just behind both states.

Third, the Northern Territory and Victoria are the highest taxed jurisdictions at all price points. At $500,000 the Northern Territory has a tax burden of 4.79% of the sale price, compared to 5.01% in Victoria.

Stamp Duty for Property Flippers Slope: What the Next $10,000 Costs

The total duty estimate can hide the fact that it is varying at varying rates with respect to the purchase offer. The incremental slope tells you how much each incremental $10,000 of purchase price increases the total duty paid. A flat slope suggests negotiability, a steep slope punishes small overpayments.

Read the table by column. The Northern Territory slope looks odd at $500,000.Its formula applies to values less than $525,000, giving a slope of about 8c/d. Then, above $525,000, it applies a flat rate of 4.95% of all value, making the slope come down to $495. The two formulae give the same result at $25,988, preventing an abrupt jump in the total.

The steepest slope of the ACT is the steepest. Its rate of increase in slope jumps from 4.32 cents at $500,000 to 6.4 cents over $1,000,000. If an offer in the ACT from $900,000 to $1,000,000 is increased, the price paid by the investor will rise by $590 for each $10,000, compared to $450 in NSW.

For clarity, most offers will be made in than $10,000 and $20,000 bracket. The cost of an overpayment of $20,000 will cost you an extra $900 worth of duty in NSW and $1,200 in Victoria. Add to that the interest payable on 80% of the extra price and the real cost of a small increase becomes clear.

Stamp Duty for Property Flippers in Weeks: Duty Priced as Holding Cost

They can seem faceless until you put a real number to them. The investor pays all the running costs involved with holding on to the property on a weekly basis. The stamp duty payment is a lump sum that needs to be recovered before you make a profit.

The exercise assumes a weekly carrying cost on a property bought for $700,000, which covers interest on an 80% loan at 7.0%, as well as $1,500 per month of other holding costs. The 7.0% interest rate is used as a proxy that equates to a weekly cost of about $1,100. The table below shows duty per state divided by that amount, as well as duty expressed as a share of $140,000, which is a 20% deposit.

A Victorian flipper gets the project underway carrying a period of 33.7 weeks. Meanwhile an ACT flipper gets a running start with a period of 15.5 weeks less. This difference is equal to an entire renovation program for a cosmetic flip.

Proper Easy – commercial listing.com Stamp duty is paid on settlement at settlement by cash and it can't usually be rolled into the home loan (confirm with lender) which would come out of the deposit pool. I am assuming yes, in which case, duty will come out of the deposit pool. A 26.5% discount on a 20% deposit – a funding problem before a profit problem.

This shows why the maximum purchase price has to take the stamp duty deduction first. If you use a procedure that leaves the duty as a final deduction you could be overestimating the offer you can afford.

Stamp Duty for Property Flippers Dates and Gaps: What Could Move These Numbers

Four major factors can change a duty bill without changing the price: rate year, rate determining date, buyer concessions at settlement, and surcharges.

Rate year: New South Wales adjusts the thresholds annually on 1 July. Duty on a $700,000 property is $25,912 in 2025-26 and $25,687 in 2026-27. The table, however, is adjusted by Revenue NSW for 2026-27, based on the date of the contract, or if that's not available, the date of transfer. So property bought or sold just before and just after 1 July can alter a duty bill by hundreds of dollars within that range.

Rate Date: In the ACT, the transaction date is used (i.e. The earliest of the grant, the transfer, or the agreement for transfer; settlement is not). This date is the date that the title was registered for the ACT Revenue Office states that the duty is due 14 days after registration of the title. Rates for other states have not been obtained.

The obligation on the buyer is a factor in the resale price. The web page for Western Australia states first home buyers are exempt from duty on a home valued up to $600,000 from 7 May 2026. Additionally, according to Aussie and Wage Calculator, on 1 July 2026 the ACT removed its income test and price cap for first-home exemptions. Like the other exceptions, these apply to owner-occupiers and not investors. These varyings laws have a dramatic effect on the affordability of the property for potential buyers.

Additional charges: Revenue NSW shows a 9% surcharge purchaser duty for 2026-2027 ($900 for a $10,000 purchase), payable on top of transfer duty. Proper Easy lists an additional charge across other states (I did not check the prices), and it might be worth checking the buyer structure before purchasing.

The writer has also been unable to find a source specifically breakdown duty on rapid resales, so therefore the numbers referred to do not include a short term holding period. Remember that RP Data lags by three months, so you should cross reference the purchase price with the latest sales figures on realestate.com.au or domain.com.au before calculating any duty figure.

How FlipSync IQ Handles Stamp Duty for Property Flippers

Flip Sync IQ is the one stop shop for flipping, renovatings and executing the BRRRR. Please be aware this is NOT a replacement for a conveyancer or your state revenue office. We recommend you check the rate date with the revenue office before entering into any agreements.

It accounts for stamp duty for property flippers as one single line item in the entire deal. The ARV calculator step by step checks up through the max purchase prices and works back from the top down so that you can see the effect of a duty change on your offer. Margin protection ensures that a minimum profit is maintained in the results. The Cost Library has different items for purchase, holding, selling, renovation costs, plus a place for irregular expenses.

As a holding cost is measured on a calendar basis, a late payment will display as a dollar amount. Budget versus actual tracking will show the red and green variances for easy accounting. Role permissions enable a financial partner to view the figures and not adjust them. The Flip versus BRRRR calculator responds to the rental exit strategy. Plans start at A$39.99 a month for three projects, with a 7-day free trial.