Stamp duty reform – good news for first home buyers With the aim of improving housing affordability for first home buyers, the Victorian Government has announced several changes to stamp duty costs. From July 1 stamp duty will be entirely abolished for first home buyers purchasing a property valued below $600,000. Discounts will also be available for property purchases between $600,000 and $750,000 on a sliding scale, regardless of whether they are new or established homes. The closer the dutiable value is to $600,001, the greater the concession. You can calculate your duty via the State Revenue Office Victoria website. The first-home buyer exemption and concession are available for both established and new home purchases. The table provides examples of how the concession works.

Dutiable Value	Normal duty	Duty after concession
$605,000	$31,370	$1045
$625,000	$32,570	$5428
$650,000	$34,070	$11,356
$675,000	$35,570	$17,785
$700,000	$37,070	$24,713
$725,000	$38,570	$32,141
$745,000	$39,770	$38,444

As part of a set of changes to make housing more affordable, the state government will also introduce a new tax charged at 1% on vacant residential property to target empty properties across Melbourne's inner and middle suburbs. Owners will be encouraged to make vacant properties eligible for purchase or rent. There will be exemptions if it is a holiday house, a deceased estate or if the owner is overseas. Premier Daniel Andrews hopes this will send a strong message that if property owners are effectively banking an empty property and denying that to the market and contributing to the lack of supply, then there's something they can do about it. "You can simply pay the tax or you might go see a real estate agent,” he said. According to Treasurer Tim Pallas, the stamp duty changes would help about 25,000 Victorians purchase their first home.