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Off-the-plan duty concession

A temporary Victorian concession for eligible off-the-plan strata purchases — available to all purchasers including investors, how it reduces dutiable value, and its current deadline.

Jurisdiction: All 8 states and territories compared — Victoria in detail; NSW's deferral, WA's percentage-rebate and the ACT's full exemption approaches cited; Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory checked and confirmed to have no currently-available off-the-plan concession·Sources last verified: 12 Aug 2026·Written by: Delora editorial team·Last reviewed: 2026-08-28·Change history
Key points
  • The concession excludes post-contract construction/refurbishment costs from the dutiable value for eligible off-the-plan strata purchases.
  • It's available to all purchasers — including investors, companies and trusts — with no property-value threshold, not just owner-occupiers or first-home buyers.
  • The property must be a lot in a strata subdivision with common property; ordinary house-and-land packages generally don't qualify.
  • Eligibility depends on the contract date, not the settlement date — currently on or after 21 October 2024 and before 21 April 2027, though this date has moved before.
  • It's separate from the first-home buyer duty exemption/concession, which is generally calculated on top of the already-reduced dutiable value.
  • NSW defers payment instead of reducing it; WA gives a direct percentage rebate on the duty itself (capped at $50,000, tapering by value) — three genuinely different structural models across three states.
  • Queensland has no off-the-plan-specific duty concession at all — confirmed directly against the QRO's own concessions index, not inferred from silence.
  • South Australia once had a broadly similar scheme, but RevenueSA's own page confirms it hasn't applied to contracts since 1 July 2018 — a South Australian purchase today gets no off-the-plan-specific benefit.
  • Tasmania's 50% off-the-plan duty concession has just lapsed for agreements executed after 30 June 2026 — confirm directly with the SRO whether it's been extended.
  • The ACT is the most generous of all — a full duty exemption (not a partial concession) for eligible off-the-plan units, with no value cap at all for contracts from 1 July 2026.
  • The Northern Territory has no off-the-plan-specific duty benefit at all, confirmed directly against its own list of common duty exemptions and concessions.

This is a Victoria-specific scheme, but other states take genuinely different approaches worth knowing before assuming Victoria's rules apply elsewhere. NSW doesn't reduce the duty owed at all — it lets eligible buyers defer paying transfer duty for up to an extra 12 months, with the amount payable unchanged, only the timing (Revenue NSW, verified 12 Aug 2026). Western Australia takes a third model again: a direct percentage rebate on the duty itself, capped at $50,000 — for contracts from 12 March 2026 to 30 June 2028, a pre-construction agreement for a dwelling valued at $800,000 or less gets 100% of the duty back, phasing down to 50% at $900,000 or more (an under-construction agreement gets 75%, phasing to 37.5%) (Government of Western Australia (Department of Treasury and Finance), verified 12 Aug 2026). WA's eligible property types were also expanded from 12 March 2026 to include survey-strata land schemes (freestanding homes), not just strata buildings. Queensland, checked directly against the Queensland Revenue Office's own concessions index, has no off-the-plan-specific concession at all — only the ordinary home and first-home concessions, on the same terms as an established property (Queensland Revenue Office, verified 12 Aug 2026). South Australia once had a broadly Victoria-like scheme, but RevenueSA's own page confirms it doesn't apply to contracts entered into on or after 1 July 2018 — a South Australian off-the-plan purchase today gets no equivalent benefit (Government of South Australia (RevenueSA), verified 12 Aug 2026). Tasmania had its own 50% off-the-plan duty concession, but the SRO's current page states it isn't available for agreements executed after 30 June 2026 — as of Delora's last check, that concession has only just lapsed, so confirm directly with the SRO whether any extension has since been announced before assuming it's gone for good (State Revenue Office of Tasmania (Department of Treasury and Finance), verified 12 Aug 2026). The ACT is the most generous of all: its Off the Plan Unit Duty Exemption is a full exemption (not a partial concession) for eligible off-the-plan apartment and townhouse purchases by individual owner-occupiers, and for contracts exchanged from 1 July 2026 there's no property-value threshold at all — the most generous off-the-plan duty treatment of any jurisdiction researched here. Earlier periods capped it at $1,020,000 (from 1 July 2025) and lower amounts in years before that; the buyer must live in the home for at least a year starting within 12 months of settlement, or full duty (plus possible penalty tax) becomes payable (ACT Revenue Office, verified 12 Aug 2026). The Northern Territory, checked directly against its own list of common duty exemptions and concessions, has no off-the-plan-specific benefit at all — an off-the-plan purchase there is dutiable the same way as an established property (Northern Territory Government (Territory Revenue Office), verified 12 Aug 2026). See the first-home buyer duty concessions outside Victoria guide for each state's general first-home duty rules.

What does the concession actually do?

Victoria's temporary off-the-plan land transfer duty concession reduces the dutiable value used to calculate duty for eligible off-the-plan purchases, by excluding the construction or refurbishment costs incurred on or after the contract date from that value. Because most of an off-the-plan purchase price for a lot bought early can be future construction cost rather than land value, this can substantially reduce the duty payable compared with an established property at the same contract price. Duty is otherwise calculated on the full contract price — any foreign purchaser additional duty is calculated before this concession is applied.

Who can use it, and what property qualifies?

The SRO's current published guidance makes this available to all purchasers — including investors, companies and trusts, not just owner-occupiers or first-home buyers — with no property-value threshold. The property must be a lot in a strata subdivision with common property (such as a shared driveway) — an ordinary standalone house-and-land package generally doesn't qualify unless it sits within that kind of strata scheme. Eligibility depends on the contract date, not the settlement date — a contract signed just inside the window can still qualify even if settlement happens later.

What is the current deadline?

As at Delora's last verification, the SRO confirms this concession applies to eligible contracts entered into on or after 21 October 2024 and before 21 April 2027 (State Revenue Office Victoria, verified 29 Jul 2026). This date has moved before — an earlier extension had set the cut-off at 20 October 2026 — so treat any specific date, including this one, as subject to change. Always confirm the current position directly on the SRO's own page before signing a contract that depends on this concession being available.

Your conveyancer and the vendor typically supply the construction-stage and cost information the SRO uses to calculate your reduced dutiable value — this isn't something you calculate yourself from the contract price alone. If a first-home buyer exemption or concession also applies to your purchase, it's generally calculated on the already-reduced dutiable value — see the first-home buyer duty exemption and concession for that separate set of rules.

Common mistake: budgeting around this concession for a contract you expect to sign near a rumoured cut-off date, without confirming the current legislated date directly beforehand — extensions have historically depended on state budget announcements and subsequent legislation, and the date has moved before.

Practical checklist

Before relying on this concession

  • Confirm the current expiry date directly on the SRO's off-the-plan concession page
  • Check the property qualifies as a strata subdivision with common property
  • Ask your conveyancer to calculate the exact dutiable value reduction for your contract
  • Check whether you also qualify for the first-home buyer duty exemption or concession

Questions for a professional

  • Does this specific off-the-plan contract qualify for the concession?
  • What is the exact dutiable value and duty payable after the concession applies?
  • Is the concession still available for contracts signed on my expected settlement timeline?
  • How does this concession interact with the first-home buyer exemption for my purchase?

Official resources

Important limitations: This concession's eligibility rules and expiry date have changed before and may change again. This guide states Delora's most recently verified expiry date with its source below — always confirm the current position directly with the SRO before signing a contract that depends on it. NSW's deferral approach and WA's percentage-rebate approach are cited above — WA's concession has moved through several different threshold/rate bands historically, so confirm the current figures directly with RevenueWA before relying on them for a new contract. Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory have been checked and confirmed to have no current off-the-plan-specific concession (South Australia's own scheme expired for contracts from 1 July 2018). Tasmania's own 50% concession has only just lapsed (not available for agreements after 30 June 2026) — confirm directly with the SRO whether it's been extended before assuming it's gone entirely. The ACT's exemption has moved through several threshold bands historically too — confirm the current position directly with the ACT Revenue Office.

Sources and methodology

Figures on this page are drawn from Delora's local knowledge graph, refreshed from these primary sources and checked for changes on a regular schedule. If a figure here looks out of date, the official source above is always the authority — please let us know.

Evidence record
Written by
Delora editorial team
Jurisdiction
All 8 states and territories compared — Victoria in detail; NSW's deferral, WA's percentage-rebate and the ACT's full exemption approaches cited; Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory checked and confirmed to have no currently-available off-the-plan concession
Content type
Guide (general education, not financial advice)
Last reviewed
2026-07-31
Sources
See "Sources and methodology" above for cited sources
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