About this calculator
The ACT is two decades into a tax reform that swaps stamp duty for land tax, and its duty schedule is unlike any other jurisdiction's. Owner-occupiers pay a concessional schedule — just $0.28 per $100 up to $260,000 — so duty on an $800,000 Canberra home is $22,158, well under Sydney or Melbourne. Investors pay higher rates at the bottom of the table, and above $1,455,000 everyone pays a flat $4.54 per $100 of the total price. This calculator uses the owner-occupier schedule, then layers your repayment, offset account and LMI on top.
The bigger story is the Home Buyer Concession Scheme. From 1 July 2026 the ACT removed both the income test and the property value cap: if you have not held an interest in property in the previous five years and you will live in the home as your principal place of residence, your duty is $0 — at any price. Tick "first home buyer" and the duty line shows the scheme's nil duty; the box stands for HBCS eligibility, which is broader than a strict first purchase (a buyer who owned long ago and has been out of the market for five years can qualify). The ACT has had no First Home Owner Grant since 2019 — the duty concession replaced it, and for most buyers it is worth far more.
How to use it
- Enter the property price and your deposit — the difference, plus any LMI, is the loan amount.
- Add the interest rate and loan term (30 years is the Australian standard).
- If you will keep savings in an offset account, enter the average balance — you will see the interest it saves and how much sooner the loan ends.
- Tick "first home buyer" if it applies: the stamp duty below then uses your state's first-home concessions.
- Read the monthly repayment, the stamp duty and the real payoff time with your offset.
The formula
M is the monthly repayment, P the loan amount, r the monthly rate and n the number of payments. An offset account does not change the repayment; it reduces the balance on which interest is charged, so more of each repayment becomes principal and the loan ends sooner. Stamp duty is charged by the state on the purchase price using that state's banded table.
Worked example
An $800,000 Canberra home with a $160,000 deposit leaves a $640,000 loan. At 6.00% over 30 years the repayment is $3,837 a month. ACT duty is $22,158 on the owner-occupier schedule — but an eligible home buyer under the Concession Scheme pays $0. Keep $50,000 in an offset account and the loan ends in 25 years 7 months, saving about $204,666 in interest.
Sources: ACT Revenue Office owner-occupier conveyance duty schedule (DI2026-155, rates unchanged for 2026-27) and the Home Buyer Concession Scheme as expanded 1 July 2026 (no income test, no value cap, five-year prior-ownership rule). Last updated: October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How much is stamp duty on an $800,000 home in the ACT?
On the owner-occupier schedule: $19,208 plus $5.90 per $100 over $750,000 gives $22,158. Investors pay more at lower prices (the non-owner-occupier schedule starts at $1.20 per $100 instead of $0.28). Eligible home buyers under the Concession Scheme pay nothing at all — see the next answer.
Who pays no stamp duty in the ACT?
Buyers eligible for the Home Buyer Concession Scheme. Since 1 July 2026 there is no income threshold and no property value cap. The conditions are personal, not financial: every buyer must be an individual aged 18+, neither you nor your domestic partner may have held an interest in land anywhere in the previous five years, and at least one buyer must live in the home continuously for a year, starting within a year of settlement.
Does the ACT have a First Home Owner Grant?
No — the ACT discontinued the grant in 2019 and replaced it with the duty concession. The swap favours buyers: a grant elsewhere is $10,000–$30,000 once, while nil duty in Canberra is worth $22,158 on an $800,000 home and grows with price, with no cap since July 2026.
Why does ACT duty jump above $1,455,000?
Above $1,455,000 the banded schedule gives way to a flat $4.54 per $100 on the entire transaction value. At exactly $1,455,000 the banded duty is about $63,078; just above the threshold the flat rate produces about $66,057 — a genuine step up built into the ACT determination, before the flat rate becomes cheaper again at higher prices relative to where the bands were heading.
What formula does this home loan calculator — australian capital territory calculator use?
M = P × r(1 + r)^n ÷ ((1 + r)^n − 1), interest charged on (balance − offset) M is the monthly repayment, P the loan amount, r the monthly rate and n the number of payments. An offset account does not change the repayment; it reduces the balance on which interest is charged, so more of each repayment becomes principal and the loan ends sooner. Stamp duty is charged by the state on the purchase price using that state's banded table. The worked example on this page applies the formula step by step with real numbers, so you can verify the result by hand.