What Stamp Duty and Land Tax Changes Should Commercial Buyers Know About Going Into 2026?
Stamp duty and land tax rules affecting commercial buyers have shifted in both Queensland and New South Wales over the past year, mostly around how foreign ownership is treated rather than the general rates that apply to everyday buyers. In Queensland, new exemptions from the land tax foreign surcharge now apply to landholders undertaking commercial activities that make a significant contribution to the state, while in New South Wales the foreign purchaser surcharge duty rate has increased, though it generally does not apply to commercial property in the first place. None of these changes affect the standard transfer duty most local commercial buyers pay, but they are worth understanding if foreign ownership, a trust structure, or a larger portfolio is part of the picture.
Queensland applies an additional foreign acquirer duty, generally referred to as AFAD, on top of standard transfer duty when a foreign person acquires residential land. It is worth knowing upfront that AFAD does not apply to commercial or industrial property, only residential land, which is a genuine point of difference from land tax.
Land tax is where the more relevant change sits. Queensland charges a land tax foreign surcharge, known as LTFS, on all land held by foreign individuals, companies and trusts, not just residential land, which means commercial and industrial landholders can be caught by it. In December 2025, the Queensland Revenue Office released new public rulings that introduce an exemption from LTFS for landholders undertaking commercial activities that make a significant contribution to the Queensland economy and community. This exemption applies to land tax liabilities arising on or after 30 June 2026, and full detail on eligibility and how to apply is available through the Queensland Revenue Office’s guidance on the land tax foreign surcharge exemption.
New South Wales has moved in a slightly different direction. From January 2025, the foreign purchaser surcharge duty rate increased from eight per cent to nine per cent, and the foreign owner land tax surcharge increased from four per cent to five per cent. Land tax thresholds have also started being indexed annually from the 2025 land tax year onward, which is a change from the previous approach of holding thresholds steady for long stretches at a time.
The detail that matters most for commercial buyers is that surcharge purchaser duty in New South Wales generally applies to residential related property, so most straightforward commercial and industrial acquisitions sit outside it. Full detail on what counts as residential related property, and who is considered a foreign person for these purposes, is set out in Revenue NSW’s guide to surcharge purchaser duty.
For most local buyers and investors, none of this changes the fundamentals. Standard transfer duty still applies in the usual way in both states, and if you are not a foreign person, none of the surcharge regimes come into play at all. Where it does matter is for foreign investors, entities with foreign shareholders or beneficiaries, and larger landholders with a broader Queensland portfolio, since a land tax foreign surcharge exemption or a favourable duty treatment can make a genuine difference to holding costs over time.
Trust and company structures are where this tends to get complicated. Ownership through a trust or a company can bring a transaction into foreign surcharge territory even when every individual involved is an Australian resident, depending on how beneficiaries or shareholders are defined. This is a common trap for buyers who assume surcharge rules only apply to obviously overseas purchasers, when in reality the test comes down to the structure itself rather than who is physically signing the contract.
It is also worth remembering that duty and land tax rules are assessed at the time of the transaction or the relevant tax year, so relying on outdated advice from a previous purchase can lead to an incorrect assumption about what applies now. If your ownership structure involves a trust, a company with overseas shareholders, or a mix of Queensland and New South Wales holdings, it is worth getting current advice specific to your situation rather than assuming the rules are the same as they were a year or two ago.
We work across both Queensland and New South Wales on every project we develop, so we keep an eye on changes like these as part of how we operate day to day. If you are weighing up a commercial or industrial purchase and want to talk through how these rules might apply to your situation, have a look through our current projects across both states or get in touch with our team directly.
This article is general information only and is not tax or legal advice. Buyers should seek independent advice from a qualified accountant or solicitor about how these rules apply to their specific circumstances.
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