Stamp Duty and LMI Calculator

Free · No sign-up · Duty rates and LMI figures as at 29 September 2026

If you only need the LMI figure, the LMI calculator on our homepage is quicker.

How much are stamp duty and LMI together?

On a $700,000 home in NSW with a 10% deposit, a buyer who is not a first home buyer pays $25,687 in transfer duty and about $9,400 to $16,600 in LMI: $35,087 to $42,287 together, as at 29 September 2026.

The same purchase costs a different amount in every state, and nearly all of the gap is transfer duty. At this price it runs from $17,048 in the ACT to $37,070 in VIC.

The LMI range starts at the same figure everywhere, because it is built from what lenders publish, and only its top changes with each state's duty on the premium. Four states have a lower duty rate for a home you live in: Victoria (up to $550,000), Queensland, Western Australia (up to $200,000) and the ACT. At $700,000, only the Queensland and ACT home rates still apply.

How stamp duty pushes up your LMI

When stamp duty comes out of the same savings as your deposit, it shrinks the deposit, raises your loan-to-value ratio (LVR) and raises the LMI.

Paying the duty from savings moves the LVR from 85.7% to 89.4% and adds about $4,800 to the typical LMI figure, on top of the $25,687 of duty itself. To keep the full $100,000 as your deposit, you need $125,687 in savings. Lenders measure the LVR against the lower of the price and their valuation, so a low valuation has the same effect.

Duty on the LMI premium by state

Six of the eight states and territories charge duty on the LMI premium: South Australia 11%, Queensland 9%, and Victoria, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory 10%. NSW and the ACT charge none.

This duty is a tax on the insurance, not on the property, and it is on top of transfer duty. How it is worked out, including the GST inside the premium, is covered in how LMI is calculated.

Worked examples for three states

Each example uses a 10% deposit, a home the buyer will live in, and the capital city cap for the 5% Deposit Scheme.

Victoria: first home buyer, $700,000

Victoria tapers first home duty between $600,001 and $750,000, so at $700,000 the land transfer duty is $24,713 instead of $37,070. The LMI carries Victoria's 10% duty on the premium. The price is under the $950,000 cap for Melbourne and Geelong, so an eligible buyer using the scheme would pay the duty and no LMI.

Queensland: next home, $800,000

A buyer who has owned a home before still gets Queensland's home concession rate on a home they move into: $21,850 instead of $29,025 at the general rate, the figure in the Queensland Revenue Office's own example for this price. The LMI carries 9% Queensland duty on the premium.

South Australia: first home buyer, established home, $650,000

South Australia's first home relief covers new homes only, so this buyer pays the full $29,580 in stamp duty, and South Australia's 11% duty on LMI is the highest rate. The price is under the $900,000 cap for Greater Adelaide, so the scheme could remove the LMI but not the duty.

First home buyer concessions and the LMI you still pay

A first home buyer concession cuts your stamp duty but not your LMI. The 5% Deposit Scheme removes LMI, and the two can apply together if you meet both sets of rules.

We found no first home buyer exemption from the duty on the LMI premium in any state. NSW and the ACT charge none for anyone. The scheme needs a deposit of at least 5% (2% for single parents), and you must live in the home. Where the price is under both the duty threshold and the scheme cap, an eligible buyer can pay neither: in NSW, $800,000 is the top of the first home exemption and the scheme cap outside Sydney and the regional centres.

The calculator shows the relief the rules allow for your price. Each concession also has conditions, such as living in the home and never having owned one, and the revenue office decides who qualifies. A First Home Owner Grant is a payment to you, not a cut in duty, so it is not in the total.

What this calculator leaves out

The total covers transfer duty, LMI and the duty on LMI for a home you will live in. It leaves out the other costs of buying and the duty rules below.

• Foreign purchaser surcharges: NSW surcharge purchaser duty 9% (from 1 January 2025); VIC foreign purchaser additional duty 8% (from 1 July 2019); QLD additional foreign acquirer duty 8% (from 1 July 2024); WA foreign transfer duty 7% (from 1 January 2019); SA foreign ownership surcharge 7% (from 1 January 2018); TAS foreign investor duty surcharge 8% (from 1 April 2020). We found no foreign purchaser duty in the ACT or NT rules we read.
• Off-the-plan concessions in Victoria, Western Australia and the ACT, and duty deferral for off-the-plan buyers in NSW.
• Vacant land. NSW, Western Australia and South Australia treat land differently for first home buyers, and Queensland has a separate land concession.
• Pensioner, seniors and downsizer concessions, and the NT House and Land Package Exemption for a package bought from a builder.
• Buying to rent out. The calculator uses the rate for a home you live in wherever a state has one.
• Government registration and transfer fees, conveyancing and legal costs, lender fees, and building and pest inspections.

Each state's rounding rule is applied. Revenue NSW does not state one for its general rates, so NSW figures may differ from its own assessment by a few dollars. Your conveyancer or the state revenue office confirms the final duty.

Sources