New Stamp Duty Rate for First Home Owner and Refund Eligibility

The legislation giving effect to amendments announced in the 2007 Budget has passed through the Western Australian Parliament. Royal Assent was granted on 29 June 2007.

The new thresholds for the stamp duty exemption for first home owners will be operational from Monday, 2 July 2007.

The thresholds for the first home owner rate of stamp duty have been increased and apply to eligible first home owners who have entered into contracts on or after 10 May 2007.

The new first homeowner exemption thresholds are:

Home

Where the value of a home does not exceed $500,000, no duty is payable.

Where value exceeds $500,000 but does not exceed $600,000, duty is payable at a rate of $26.10 for every $100 and any fractional part of $100 by which the amount or value of the consideration exceeds $500,000.

Vacant Land

Where value of the vacant land does not exceed $300,000, no duty is payable. 

Where value exceeds $300,000 but does not exceed $400,000, duty is payable at a rate of $15.70 for every $100 and any fractional part of $100 by which the amount or value of the consideration exceeds $300,000.

Refund Eligibility

Eligible first homeowners whose contracts were entered into on or after 10 May 2007 and have had their document assessed prior to the legislation being passed are entitled to apply for a reassessment and/or a refund of stamp duty. 

Special arrangements have been put in place to treat applications for refund of this nature as a priority. In order to obtain a refund, please complete and submit to the Office of State Revenue a “Stamp Duty First Home Rate Application form for Purchased Property or Gifted Vacant Land” together with the original stamped document (if duty paid).

For further details about the Stamp Duty First Home Owner Rate, please read the Fact Sheet.