Changes To Transfer Duty and What It Means for First Home Buyers in Queensland

Exciting News For First Home Buyers in Queensland.

Over the weekend Queensland Premier Steven Miles announced exciting news that will provide some much-needed assistance for first home buyers and the associated Transfer Duty payable.

What is Transfer Duty?

Transfer Duty, also commonly referred to as “Stamp Duty”, is a State Government tax payable by buyers on most ‘dutiable transactions’ such as purchasing a property or transferring an interest in a property. It is calculated based on the higher of the purchase price payable or the value of the property in the transaction and so the amount can vary significantly.

Concessions are Available.

• There are various concessions available to help purchasers and reduce the amount payable. One of those is the First Homeowner Concession, which if you qualify for means you do not need to pay stamp duty.
• Previously, the concession was only available for transactions with a purchase price or value of up to $500,000.00. This has simply not been a realistic match for the post-covid19 staggering incline in property prices and so a lot of recent first home buyers have struggled purchase a property and still be eligible to benefit from the concession.

New Thresholds.

The good news is that some relief has now been afforded by the Premier with news that the threshold for Queensland has increased to $700,000.00, meaning that eligible first home buyers could now have up to an extra $17,000 available to them to go towards their deposit or other required fees rather than using those funds for stamp duty. This will significantly help first home buyers enter the property market.

Benefits for Vacant Land Buyers.

The change will also benefit those eligible for the first homeowners vacant land concession with the land value threshold for Queensland increasing from $250,000.00 to $350,000.00 (which can be a saving of up to $8,250 in stamp duty).

Changes to Foreign Investors.

To offset the loss, the Queensland Government is increasing the land tax surcharge for foreign investors to 3% and the transfer duty surcharge to 8% for them as well.

Impact of the Changes.

The move is forecasted to support an additional 10,000 buyers into their first home and is huge news amidst the ongoing cost-of-living crisis many people are facing who dream of buying their first home.

How Enterprise Legal Can Assist.

The conveyancing team at Enterprise Legal are here to help you understand the process of purchasing your first home so please do not hesitate to contact our team if you have any questions or require any assistance with your property purchase or calculating what this news means to you.