2026-27 Budget Update: Key Changes To Australian State And Territory Taxes - Victoria, Northern Territory, Western Australia And Tasmania

Victoria, the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Tasmania have delivered their FY2026-27 budgets which include revenue initiatives relating to land tax and stamp duty. 

The most significant change delivered so far has been the introduction of a foreign buyer duty exemption for builder sellers in Western Australia, bringing the state in line with existing regimes in New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. Otherwise, the State and Territory budgets have focused on cost of living support and increasing housing supply and availability, particularly for first home buyers, without increasing tax burdens. 

More significant changes for taxpayers have been introduced in the Federal Budget which you can read about in our article here.

Western Australia

The key changes include:

Foreign buyers duty exemption for builder sellers

The budget has introduced a new foreign buyers duty exemption designed to apply to foreign buyers who contribute to Western Australian housing supply. The measure extends current exemptions which apply to significant developments of ten or more dwellings and is designed to not penalise locally-based builders with foreign ownership. 

The new exemption applies to transactions entered into on or after 7 May 2026 and eligibility requirements include that the foreign buyer constructs and sells new dwellings within two years of purchase. Eligible dwellings will now include purchases of vacant land and constructing a dwelling, purchased and completing a partially constructed dwelling, purchasing land with established property on which more dwellings will be constructed than demolished and repurposing or refurbishing commercial or industrial buildings into dwellings. 

Off-the plan transfer duty concession extended 

The temporary off-the-plan transfer duty concession been extended by a further two years from 30 June 2026 to 30 June 2028. The budget also extends the concession by:

• Expanding the concession to include off-the-plan dwellings in survey strata schemes such as units and villas, in addition to apartments, townhouses and other build strata developments.
• Increasing the concession’s lower and upper property price thresholds from $750,000 to $800,000 and from $850,000 to $900,000 respectively.

Housing tax package aimed at first home buyers

The budget has introduced a ‘Housing Taxation Package‘ aimed at supporting first home buyers. For transactions entered into on or after 7 May 2026, first home buyers will benefit from:

• Increased stamp duty relief by increasing the transfer duty exemption for established properties from $500,000 to $600,000 and the concessional rate threshold from $700,000 (in the Perth and Peel region) or $750,000 (in other regions) to $800,000.
• Increased transfer duty exemption for vacant land by increasing the transfer duty exemption for vacant land from $350,000 to $450,000 and the concessional rate threshold from $450,000 to $550,000.
• Removal of link between eligibility for first home owner rate of duty for vacant residential land and the first home owner grant cap meaning that first home buyers purchasing vacant land previously ineligible for a duty concession if the combined value of the land and building exceeded the first home owner grant cap are now eligible to receive the concession threshold.

Victoria

The key updates include:                             

Off-the plan stamp duty concession extended 

The temporary stamp duty concession for off-the-plan units, townhouses and apartments initially announced in October 2024 and extended in the FY2025-26 Budget until 20 October 2026 has been further extended for a further 6 months to 21 April 2027.

The concession is generally available to first-home buyers and owner occupiers who purchase an eligible apartment or townhouse off-the-plan before any construction work starts and allows a 100% deduction of outstanding construction and refurbishment costs when determining the stamp duty owed. The extension of the temporary duty concession means that anyone buying an apartment, unit or town-house off-the-plan (not just first home buyers and owner occupiers), including investors, companies and trusts, can access the concession for the extended period. 

Business as usual for land tax and transfer duty

There are otherwise no notable changes to land tax or land transfer duty in Victoria. 

Although there were no changes to the Commercial and Industrial Property Tax (CIPT) regime which commenced on 1 July 2024, the budget notes that more than 12,000 properties have now entered the reform and will not be liable for land transfer duty when they are next sold. You can read our previous articles on the CIPT reforms here and here.

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory budget focuses on cost of living support and did not introduce any notable changes to land tax or stamp duty. 

Tasmania

The key changes include:

First home buyer exemption and pre-completion duty concession due to expire

The exemption from conveyance duty for first home buyers and the pre-completion concession for new apartments and units are due to expire on 30 June 2026 and have not been extended in the FY2026-27 budget. However, the Tasmanian Government has increased the first home owner grant from which was set to decrease to $10,000 on 1 July 2026 to $20,000 for a 12-month period from 1 July 2026.

More to come

The budgets for the remaining States and Territories are expected over the coming weeks (subject to change):

• SA: 4 June 2026
• ACT: 10 June 2026
• NSW and QLD: 23 June 2026