First home vacant land concession
If you buy vacant land on which to build your first home, you might be eligible for a full or partial concession (reduction) on the amount of transfer (stamp) duty you have to pay. See the obligations and how to apply.
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. For agreements entered into:
- before 1 May 2025, if the value of the vacant is under $500,000, you could save up to $10,675
- from 1 May 2025, you might not pay any duty on residential vacant land.
Duty will be imposed on any portion of the land that is non-residential land.
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
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 (for agreements entered into before 1 May 2025)
- for vacant land (for agreements entered into from 1 May 2025)
- 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
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
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.
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
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 on or after 10 September 2024 and you continue to live in the property. Where the lease arrangement starts before this date, 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.
Note: You may also wish to consider potential implications with other authorities, such as your obligations as a landlord with the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) or what it means for your income and other federal taxes with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
Cassie buys land on which to build her first home. She claims the first home vacant land concession. Instead of building, she sells 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 bought land on which to build her first home. She claimed the first home vacant land concession.
Six months after moving into her newly built home, she sold 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 (i.e. to keep part of the concession for the time she lived there).
Dimitri buys land on which to build his first home. He claims the first home vacant land concession.
Before moving into his newly built home, he rents it 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 built his first home and claimed the first home vacant land concession. He moves in shortly after completion.
As part of the build, he included a self-contained granny flat underneath the house. On 1 September 2024, Andre leased 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 (i.e. he may be able to keep part of the concession for the time the granny flat wasn’t leased).
Emma bought land and had her first home built there. She claimed the first home vacant land concession. She moved in shortly after completion.
Emma decides to rent a room to a friend on 30 September 2024. Although she rented part of the property after moving in, because the lease arrangement started after 10 September 2024 and she continues to live there, Emma is entitled to keep the concession. She does not need to notify us of this lease arrangement.
Jon built his first home and claimed the first home vacant land concession. He moved in shortly after completion and lived there for 6 months before moving out.
Shortly after moving out, he rented 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 (i.e. Jon may be able to keep part of the concession for the time he lived in the home).
Read the public rulings on home concessions:
- disposal and partial renting between 10 September 2024 and 5 December 2024 (DA000.18)
- occupancy requirements (DA085.1).
Read the practice direction where not all taxpayers comply with the conditions (DA000.1).
How much you will pay
For agreements entered into:
- before 1 May 2025, duty 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.
- from 1 May 2025—duty is calculated on the whole property at the transfer duty rate minus the transfer duty amount calculated on the portion of the land that is residential vacant land.
If the whole property is residential vacant land, no duty will be payable. However, if a portion of the land is non-residential vacant land, duty will be imposed on that portion of the land.
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
This table shows the duty payable for agreements entered into before and after 1 May 2025.
| Vacant land value | Before 1 May 2025 | From 1 May 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| $350,000 | $0
No duty payable because the value of the vacant land is $350,000 or less. |
$0
No duty payable because there is no value cap, and the full concession applies. |
| $360,000 | $1,060
The transfer duty without the concession is $11,025. Because the vacant land is valued at $360,000 to $369,999.99, a first home vacant land concession of $9,965 applies. |
$0
No duty payable because there is no value cap, and the full concession applies. |
| $500,000 | $15,925
The concession doesn’t apply because the value of the vacant land is $500,000 or more. |
$0
No duty payable because there is no value cap, and the full concession applies. |
| $750,000 | $26,775
The concession doesn’t apply because the value of the vacant land is $500,000 or more. |
$0
No duty payable because there is no value cap, and the full concession applies. |
$952,000
|
$35,865
The concession doesn’t apply because the value of the vacant land is $500,000 or more. Duty is imposed on the full value of the vacant land. |
$6,750
The amount of duty calculated on the value of the residential vacant land ($29,115) is deducted from the duty calculated on the whole property ($35,865), resulting in duty imposed on the portion of the vacant land that is non-residential land. Duty of $6,750 is payable. |
How to claim
Complete the following forms and include them with your contract, and valuation (if required), when lodging them for stamping:
- Claim a first home vacant land concession (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 (property information).
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—home, first home, first home (new home) or first home vacant land concessions (Form D2.4) (also available as a PDF) if you:
- don’t move into the residence within 2 years of the transfer date
- sell or transfer all or part of the property before moving in, or within 1 year of moving in
- lease, rent or otherwise grant exclusive possession
of all the property before moving in, or within 1 year of moving in
- lease, rent 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)
- change the portion of land used for residential purposes after building the residence (for transactions entered into from 1 May 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.
First home owner grant
If you’re a first home owner buying or building a brand-new home, you may also be eligible to claim a first home owner grant.
You’re allowed to claim both the grant and a transfer duty concession, but each has its own eligibility requirements. The grant allows you to rent out a room or granny flat while using it as your residence; but, depending on when you enter the lease arrangement, this could disqualify you from retaining a transfer duty concession.