Waiver for residential property transactions of up to $1 million

Key information

A land transfer (stamp) duty waiver applied to purchases of residential property in Victoria with a dutiable value of up to $1 million for contracts signed on or after 25 November 2020 and before 1 July 2021. 

The waiver applied to properties that met all the following conditions:

• Dutiable value of up to $1 million.
• Residential property, including new and existing homes and vacant residential land.
• A genuine purchase where the buyer pays for the property (not a gift).

The waiver was:

• 50% for new residential properties
• 25% for existing residential properties
• 25% for vacant residential land.

Waivers for new, existing and vacant property

The 50% waiver applied where a completed home exists on the land at the time of transfer. 

If construction was not complete, the property was treated as vacant land and the 25% waiver applied.

If the off-the-plan concession was applied, it may have reduced the dutiable value of the property to $1 million or less. 

The waiver applied after all other eligible benefits were applied. This includes the first home buyer duty concession, the principal place of residence concession and the pensioner concession.

Residential property definition

Residential property is:

• land capable of being used solely or primarily for residential purposes and that may lawfully be used in that way. This means the land must have had a completed home that you could lawfully live in at the time of the transfer. If the land was a mixed-use property (e.g. a milk bar and house), the primary use must have been residential.
• vacant residential land described in codes 100 to 109 of the Australian Valuation Property Classification Code (AVPCC).

New home definition

A new home means the same as it does under the First Home Owner Grant and Home Buyer Schemes Act 2000. It includes a newly built home and a land and building package. 

The home cannot have been previously sold or occupied as a place of residence or used for short-term accommodation.

Applying for the waiver

You or your representative must have provided information about the transaction when lodging the Digital Duties Form. We use the information disclosed in this form to automatically apply the waiver if all eligibility criteria are met.

Foreign purchasers

Foreign purchasers were entitled to the waiver provided the transfer met the eligibility requirements. However, the waiver did not apply to the foreign purchaser additional duty component of the land transfer duty calculation.