Glossary · Australian property
Foreign purchaser additional duty.
An additional stamp-duty surcharge applied by most Australian states to residential property purchases by foreign buyers (non-citizens, non-permanent-residents).
Most Australian states apply a foreign-purchaser surcharge on top of standard transfer duty: NSW 9%, VIC 8%, QLD 8%, SA 7%, TAS 3%, WA + ACT + NT zero. The surcharge applies to the dutiable value of the residential portion of the purchase.
Definition of 'foreign purchaser' tracks Commonwealth FIRB rules: anyone other than Australian citizens, permanent residents, and NZ Special Category visa holders ordinarily resident in Australia. Trusts and companies with foreign beneficial ownership above prescribed thresholds also count.
The surcharge is in addition to FIRB application fees (typically $13K-$26K per residential application) charged at the federal level. So a foreign buyer in NSW on a $1M purchase pays standard duty (~$40K) plus 9% surcharge ($90K) plus FIRB fee (~$14K), roughly $144K total upfront.
Source
Duties Act 1997 (NSW) Ch 2A; Duties Act 2000 (VIC) Ch 4; Duties Act 2001 (QLD) Ch 2 Pt 7; FIRB administrative regulations.
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