First home vacant land concession

You can claim a first home vacant land concession for transfer (stamp) duty when acquiring vacant land to build your first home, if you meet certain requirements.

The first home vacant land concession only applies to vacant land valued under $500,000 and can save you up to $10,675.

The threshold for the concession changed on 9 June 2024. See the current and previous threshold and rates.

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 first home vacant land 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
• have never claimed the first home vacant land concession on another property
• have never held an interest
  Interest in a residence

  Typically, you have held an interest (or share) if you have ever owned a house, apartment, unit or other residence anywhere in the world.

  It doesn’t matter if you owned the residence solely or jointly (with others in equal or unequal shares), or there was a mortgage over it.

  You are not considered to have held an interest if you:

  • held the property as trustee for somebody else
  • leased a property and paid a bond and rent only
  • lent money and had it secured by way of mortgage, charge, etc.

  Other proprietary interests might also exclude you from claiming the first home concession or first home vacant land concession.

  You may wish to seek independent legal advice.

  in a residence anywhere in Australia or overseas
• be at least 18 years of age
• be paying market value if the vacant land is valued between $350,001 and $499,999
• build your first home on the land, move in with your personal belongings and live there on a daily basis within 2 years of settlement (this time cannot be extended)
• only build 1 home
  Home

  Transfer duty

  A residence that the owner has occupied as their principal place of residence within 1 year of the transfer date for the residential land

  on the land
• be certain there is no building, or part of a building, on the land when you acquire it
• 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
  Transferee

  A party that is acquiring (e.g. buying) dutiable property is a transferee

   are trustees of a trust (other than a discretionary or unit trust)
• the beneficiaries are individuals, all of whom are under a legal disability
  Legal disability

  The lack of capability to perform an act that includes the ability to manage or administer financial affairs as determined by a court.

  If a person has a legal disability, a guardian usually oversees their financial affairs.

• 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 a concession.

Two or more acquirers

Provided you qualify, you can claim a first home vacant land concession on your interest (or share), whether or not other acquirers also qualify. 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 first home vacant land 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
  Exclusive possession

  Generally, the right to exclude all others, including the owner, from all or part of a property.

  Whether exclusive possession has been granted depends on the:

  • terms of the written agreement, where there is one
  • facts and circumstances of the arrangement, where there is no written agreement.

  Exclusive possession may also be granted by law.

  For example, the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 applies to certain renting arrangements.

  You should seek professional advice before arranging to rent out all or any part of your home or granny flat.

  See the Residential Tenancies Authority for more information on leasing arrangements and obligations.

  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.

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).

How much you will pay

The first home vacant land concession is calculated at the transfer duty rate minus the first home vacant land concession amount. If the vacant land is valued at $350,000 or under, the first home vacant land concession means no duty is payable.

You can use the transfer duty estimator or rates for home concession to find out how much duty you may have to pay when you buy vacant land.

Calculation examples

How to claim

Complete the following forms and include them with your contract, and valuation (if required), when lodging them for stamping:

• Claim for transfer duty concession first home vacant land (Form D2.7)
• Identity details annexure for each non-Australian transferor and transferee
• Form 1 Transfer and Form 24 from Titles Queensland.

For help completing the Title 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.

18 years of age requirement

To claim a first home vacant land concession as a minor, you need to apply to us first so we can determine if we should make an exception to the age requirement.

Minors can only claim a first home vacant land concession if we are satisfied that the transaction is not part of a scheme to avoid transfer duty.

We will consider the following factors on a case-by-case basis:

• your age
• the way in which the vacant land purchase agreement is structured
• the reason for the purchase
• the living arrangements for you and your family once the home is constructed
• the family arrangements generally
• whether the funds to purchase the vacant land were independently sourced.

Claiming after the transfer

If you’re unsure that you 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 vacant land because you weren’t going to immediately build a home, but then you decide to. 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 2 years of the transfer date
  Transfer date

  The date you’re entitled to possess the property.

  This is usually the date of settlement or the date the land is vested in your name.

  See the public ruling on concessions for home and first homes (DA085.1).

• 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
  Exclusive possession

  Generally, the right to exclude all others, including the owner, from all or part of a property.

  Whether exclusive possession has been granted depends on the:

  • terms of the written agreement, where there is one
  • facts and circumstances of the arrangement, where there is no written agreement.

  Exclusive possession may also be granted by law.

  For example, the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 applies to certain renting arrangements.

  You should seek professional advice before arranging to rent out all or any part of your home or granny flat.

  See the Residential Tenancies Authority for more information on leasing arrangements and obligations.

  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).

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.