Key Highlights

  • The off-the-plan stamp duty concession in Victoria now runs to 20 April 2027.
  • The extension became law in June, according to the article's review of the legislation.
  • The government's own summary page still says 'subject to legislation'.
  • Buyers should check contract dates against the 20 April 2027 deadline.

Victoria's widest off-the-plan stamp duty concession was due to close on 20 October 2026, and some official pages still describe its extension as "subject to legislation". The State Revenue Office (SRO) now lists the law that extends it, and buyers are reported to have until 20 April 2027 to sign eligible contracts. With the state election on 28 November and the federal negative gearing limit pushing investors towards new builds, the details matter.

What the concession does

Off-the-plan concessions in Victoria reduce stamp duty (land transfer duty) by letting buyers deduct construction costs from the price used to calculate duty. A buyer who signs before building work is finished generally pays duty only on the value of what exists at the contract date.

The temporary, expanded version goes further than the long-running concession. According to the Victorian Government's off-the-plan page, it allows 100% of outstanding construction and refurbishment costs to be deducted.

It is also open to any buyer, including investors, and the value thresholds that limit the standard concession are removed. That is why it is often described as uncapped.

The deduction covers construction or refurbishment work still to be carried out after the contract date. Land and any work already completed remain part of the dutiable value.

Duty is assessed on the contract but generally paid around settlement, which for off-the-plan purchases can be a year or more later.

Who is eligible and what is excluded

The expanded concession covers apartments, units and townhouses bought off the plan on a lot in a strata subdivision that creates common property, such as a shared driveway or hallway, according to vic.gov.au.

House-and-land packages, and other dwellings that are not part of a strata subdivision with common property, are excluded from the expanded version.

First-home buyers and owner-occupiers can still use the older concession on those properties. That version is limited by value: the government page sets a $750,000 cap on the reduced value for first-home buyers, with a lower cap for eligible pensioners and owner-occupiers.

Has the extension to April 2027 become law?

The timeline has shifted several times. The expanded concession applied from 21 October 2024. In 2025 it was extended to 20 October 2026, with that extension receiving royal assent on 24 June 2025, the government page says.

The 2026–27 Victorian Budget, handed down on 5 May 2026, announced a further extension to 20 April 2027. The vic.gov.au page, last updated on 15 May 2026, describes that extension as "subject to legislation".

Since then, the SRO has published a notice on the Building Legislation and Treasury Legislation (Tax Relief) Amendment Act 2026, which it says received royal assent on 23 June 2026. A property tax explainer reports that the Act extends the concession to eligible contracts entered into before 21 April 2027, meaning 20 April 2027 is the last eligible day.

The SRO's page on the strata apartments and townhouses temporary concession was updated on 22 October 2026, after the earlier end date passed. Because the government's own summary still carries the older wording, buyers should confirm the exact contract-date rules for their purchase with the SRO.

The concession has now been extended twice. The government page does not indicate any plan to continue it beyond April 2027.

Hypothetical example: what the deduction can be worth

Hypothetical example: an investor signs a contract for a $700,000 off-the-plan apartment before construction has advanced far. Assume $530,000 of construction costs are still to be incurred at the contract date, leaving a dutiable value of $170,000. The example uses general rates, which apply to investors.

At Victoria's general rates, duty on the full $700,000 would be $2,870 plus 6% of the amount over $130,000. That is $2,870 plus $34,200, or $37,070.

With the concession, duty is calculated on $170,000: $2,870 plus 6% of $40,000, or $2,870 plus $2,400, giving $5,270.

The saving in this example is $31,800. If the same apartment were bought after completion, no construction costs would remain, so duty would be assessed on the full $700,000. The government page gives its own example: for a $620,000 apartment bought before construction starts, duty falls from about $32,000 to about $4,000. Actual savings depend on how much building has occurred and on the SRO's assessment.

The federal link, the cost and the market

The concession lines up with a federal change. Under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Act 2026, which is enacted law, negative gearing for residential property bought after 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 is limited to new builds, applying from 1 July 2027. Existing holdings are grandfathered.

The same Act replaces the 50% CGT discount with cost-base indexation and a 30% minimum tax for gains accruing from 1 July 2027.

For investors, the two measures point the same way: towards newly built stock such as off-the-plan apartments. Whether a property counts as a new build for negative gearing depends on the federal rules, not on the Victorian concession. That does not remove the usual risks of buying off the plan, including construction delays, developer failure and the chance that a property is valued below its contract price at settlement.

When the previous extension was announced in May 2025, the government said the average saving was $24,517 and put the cost at $61 million in 2025–26, as reported at the time. No updated cost figure for the April 2027 extension appears on the government page.

The concession sits alongside a weaker housing market. the November index shows national values fell 1.2% in October, the seventh monthly fall in a row, and the Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate to 4.85% on 3 November.

Victoria is now in caretaker mode ahead of the 28 November election, which generally means no major new policy decisions until a government is formed. The election policy tracker lists other duty promises, including the Coalition's pledge to raise the first-home-buyer duty-free threshold to $1 million.

What to watch

  • 28 November 2026: Victorian state election, which could bring new or changed duty promises.
  • 20 April 2027: reported last day to enter an eligible contract under the expanded concession.
  • 1 July 2027: federal negative gearing limit and CGT changes start to apply.