Home concession
Find out how to apply for a concession to reduce the transfer (stamp) duty on a home. You have obligations after claiming the concession.
Changes have been made to the lease arrangement dates for home concessions from 6 December 2024.
After you move in, you’ll be able to lease or rent part of the property if the lease arrangement started on 10 September 2024 or later. You must continue to live in the property. All other eligibility criteria remain the same.
Unlike the first home concession, you can claim the home concession even when you have owned a home before.
The home concession rate applies to the first $350,000 of the consideration or value of the residence, and the general transfer duty rates then apply to the balance.
You do not have to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident to claim a concession, but you must meet the eligibility criteria. Additional foreign acquirer duty may apply if you are a foreign person.
There are no additional concessions or exemptions for seniors card or pensioner concession card holders.
If you are a transfer duty self assessor, you can:
- refer to the residential land concession toolkit for help with the home concession
- view a list of all self-assessed transactions, concessions and exemptions, and their related toolkits.
Eligibility
- be legally acquiring the property as an individual
- move into it with your personal belongings and live there on a daily basis within 1 year of settlement (this time cannot be extended)
- meet certain requirements after you claim the concession.
Companies are not eligible to claim a concession, except when they are acting as a corporate trustee.
Trustees are not eligible for the concessions unless all the following apply:
- the transferees
are trustees of a trust (other than a discretionary or unit trust)
- the beneficiaries are individuals, all of whom are under a legal disability
- the residence will be the home of all the beneficiaries.
You do not have to be an Australian citizen or permanent resident to claim a concession. However, additional foreign acquirer duty may apply if you are a foreign person.
Use our home concession eligibility tester to find out if you are eligible to claim the home concession or first home concession.
Two or more acquirers
Provided you qualify, you can claim a home concession on your interest (or share), whether or not other acquirers also qualify for a home concession or first home concession. Not every person acquiring the property needs to qualify for a concession or apply for the same concession.
In some cases, people will have eligibility for different concessions or no eligibility. For example, a couple can buy their home and one person can claim a first home concession and the other a home concession. In these circumstances, all the various interests and any concessions that apply are used to calculate the total duty payable.
The calculations can be complex, so use the transfer duty calculator to see what you might pay when there are mixed concession claims.
Requirements
If you have claimed the home concession, there are certain requirements in order to keep it.
Selling or transferring the property
- Before you move in: You are not able to sell or transfer all or part of the property before you move in.
- After you move in: A partial concession may apply if you sell or transfer all or part the property within 1 year after you move in.
Leasing, renting or granting exclusive possession of the property
- Before you move in: You are not able to lease, rent or otherwise grant exclusive possession
of all or part of the property before you move in.
- After you move in:
- You are able to lease, rent or otherwise grant exclusive possession of part of the property, providing that the lease arrangement starts between 10 September 2024 and 30 June 2025 and you continue to live in the property. Where the lease arrangement starts outside this period, you may lose the concession.
- You are not able to lease, rent or otherwise grant exclusive possession of all of the property within 1 year after you move into the property.
Cassie buys a house and claims the home concession. Before moving in, she decides to sell the property to a developer.
Because Cassie sold all or part of the property before moving in, she has not met the requirements of the concession. She must notify us so a duty reassessment can be made.
Chenea buys a unit and claims the home concession. Six months after moving in, she decides to sell the property.
Because Chenea sold all or part of the property within 1 year after moving in, she has not met the requirements of the concession. She must notify us so a duty reassessment can be made. She may be eligible for a partial concession.
Dimitri buys a townhouse and claims the home concession. Before moving in, he decides to rent the property to a group of students.
Because Dimitri rented all or part of the property before moving in, he has not met the requirements of the concession. He must notify us so a duty reassessment can be made.
Andre buys a house and claims the home concession. He moves in shortly after settlement.
There is a self-contained granny flat underneath the house. On 1 September 2024, Andre leases the granny flat to a couple.
Because Andre rented part of the property after moving in—but before 10 September 2024—he has not met the requirements of the concession. He must notify us so a duty reassessment can be made. He may be eligible for a partial concession.
Emma buys a unit and claims the home concession. She moves in shortly after settlement.
Emma decides to rent a room to a friend on 30 September 2024. Because she rented part of the property after moving in and the lease arrangement started after 10 September 2024, Emma is entitled to keep the concession. She does not need to notify us of this lease arrangement.
Jon buys a townhouse and claims the home concession. He moves in shortly after settlement and lives there for 6 months, then moves out.
Shortly after moving out, he rents all of the property to a family.
Because Jon rented all of the property within 1 year of moving in, he has not met the requirements of the concession. He must notify us so a duty reassessment can be made. He may be eligible for a partial concession.
For more information, read these public rulings:
- Concessions for homes and first homes—occupancy requirements (DA085.1)
- Concessions for homes and AFAD exemption for specified foreign retirees—disposal and partial renting (DA000.18).
Existing tenants or previous owners
Any existing tenants must move out when their lease expires or within 6 months of settlement, whichever is the earlier, for you to stay eligible for the concession. Previous owners who continue to stay in the property must also move out within 6 months.
Demolishing the home
The home concession will not apply if you demolish the existing home without first living there, even if you construct and occupy a new home within a year.
An architect purchases an old house on a block of land. The old house will be removed so that a new house can be built. For convenience, the architect stays in the house over a weekend while he removes some fittings. He plans to continue living in a leased apartment while the new house is built.
The architect is unable to claim the home concession as he didn’t make the house his principal place of residence before demolishing it.
A couple buys a house, moves in and lives there after enrolling their child in a local day care centre. They update their electoral roll, driver licence and myGov details. After living there continuously for 3 months, they decide to rebuild. They move out and arrange for the house to be demolished.
They have resided in the property and made it their principal place of residence. Provided they do not sell, transfer, lease or otherwise grant exclusive possession within the first year of occupying the property, they are able to retain the full benefit of the concession even though the original house was demolished.
How much you will pay
You can also use the transfer duty estimator or rates for home concessions to find out how much duty you may have to pay when you buy your home.
The concession doesn’t apply to any part of the land that’s used for non-residential purposes. To find out more, read the public ruling on the residential purposes for the transfer duty concession for homes and first homes (DA087.1).
If there’s a non-residential part of the land, use the transfer duty calculator to check the amount you will pay.
Calculation example
| Calculation step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Dutiable value of home | $550,000 |
| Concessional transfer duty on first $350,000 | $3,500 |
| Transfer duty on balance ($200,000) | $7,100 |
| Total transfer duty | $10,600 |
| (Without the home concession, the transfer duty would be $17,775.) | |
How to claim
Complete the following forms and include them with your contract, and valuation (if required), when lodging them for stamping:
- Claim for home or first home transfer duty concession (Form D2.1)
- Identity details annexure for each non-Australian transferor and transferee
- Form 1 Transfer and Form 24 from Titles Queensland.
For help completing the Titles Queensland forms, read part 1 (transfer) of the Land title practice manual and the guide to Form 24.
When lodging documents, make sure you include a covering letter with your name, address and details of what you have lodged. If you also give us an email address or mobile number, we will confirm when we’ve received your documents.
Find out more about lodging and stamping your documents.
Claiming after the transfer
If you’re unsure that you will meet the concession requirements, you can pay duty at the full rate when your documents are assessed and then claim the concession later if you have met, or will meet, the requirements. You just need to lodge the forms and documents with us.
You can also do this if you didn’t claim a concession when you acquired the home because you weren’t going to occupy it, but then you decide to move in.
In either case, we will reassess your duty at the concessional rate and refund the balance of your original payment.
Find out about applying for a reassessment.
Obligations after you claim
You must notify us by completing a notice for reassessment (Form D2.4) (also available as a PDF) if you:
- don’t move into the residence within 1 year of settlement
- sell or transfer all or part of the property before moving in, or within 1 year of moving in
- lease or otherwise grant exclusive possession
of all the property before moving in, or within 1 year of moving in
- lease or otherwise grant exclusive possession of part of the property within 1 year of moving in (if the lease arrangement started before 10 September 2024 or after 30 June 2025)
- demolish the existing home without first living there.
Read more about common reasons for reassessment to find out about a reassessment of your transfer duty concession and what documents you need to lodge.
After a reassessment, you may have to pay a transfer duty liability. You may also have to pay unpaid tax interest and penalty tax, depending on your circumstances.