Duties Fact Sheet - First Home Owner Rate

Your transaction may be assessed at the FHOR if:

• the unencumbered value of the land, or the land and home, under the transaction does not exceed the dutiable value thresholds and
• you qualify for the grant or
• you would have qualified for the grant except that
  • the transaction was for the purchase of an established home or
  • no consideration was paid under the transaction or
  • you are an Indian Ocean Territories resident acquiring your first home or 
  • the total value of the home exceeded the value cap for the first home owner grant.

For vacant land, you may be eligible for the grant if you enter into a comprehensive contract to build a home on the land or build a home on the land as an owner-builder.

To be assessed at the FHOR, the transaction must not exceed the dutiable value thresholds.

The dutiable value thresholds apply to the whole value of the home and land, or vacant land being transferred, not to the value of the person’s interest in the property.

For transactions entered into before 7 May 2026 to be eligible for the FHOR, the total value of the house and land must not exceed the first home owner grant caps.

Rates apply to the date an agreement is entered into, not the date of settlement. 

Contact us for rates that applied to transactions entered into before 2 July 2014.

Home and land

Vacant land

The Commissioner may apportion the first home owner rate of duty to land that is subdivided by a first home owner in certain circumstances. See Commissioner’s Practice DA 30 ‘First Home Owner Concession - Excluded Persons’ for more information.

Foreign transfer duty is chargeable when foreign persons purchase residential property. Even though the FHOR may apply to the transaction, foreign transfer duty is still chargeable if the purchaser is a foreign person. If there is more than one purchaser, foreign transfer duty will apply to the dutiable value of the foreign person’s interest in the property.

See the ‘Foreign Transfer Duty’ fact sheet for more information.

Example

Kate, an Australian citizen, and her partner Simon, a foreign person, are first home buyers. They enter into an agreement to purchase a home as joint tenants for $400,000.

They are eligible for the first home owner rate of duty and no transfer duty is payable because the dutiable value is below the first home owner rate thresholds.

Because Simon is a foreign person, the foreign transfer duty chargeable on Simon’s 50 per cent joint tenant interest in the property is $14,000 ($200,000 x 7 per cent).

1. Lodge Form F-FHOG1 ‘FHOG Application and/or Pre-approval for the First Home Owner Rate of Duty’ with an approved financial institution or RevenueWA.
2. If you meet the criteria, RevenueWA will send you a letter of approval and Form FDA7 'First Home Owner Rate of Duty'.
3. Submit the transaction record (e.g. contract for sale and/or transfer of land) together with the completed Form FDA7 'First Home Owner Rate of Duty' and Form FDA41 ‘Foreign Transfer Duty Declaration’ to your settlement agent or directly to RevenueWA if you are conducting your own settlement.

How to apply for a reassessment if duty has been paid

If you have already paid duty on your transaction at a higher rate, go to the Online Services Portal to lodge a reassessment request directly with RevenueWA and submit:

• a copy of the contract for sale by offer and acceptance or transfer of land relating to the purchase of the vacant land or established home and
• a copy of the Certificate of Duty that shows duty has been paid on the purchase.

To access the Online Services Portal, you will need to register for, or log in to, RevenueWAConnect.

Following your reassessment, we will refund any overpaid duty.

Time limit to apply for reassessment

Apply for the FHOR before the later of:

• for a home – 12 months after the date when the transferee has been registered on the Certificate of Title of the property (generally the settlement date)
• for vacant land on which a home is to be built –
  • 12 months after the home is ready to be occupied (generally the handover date) or
  • three months after the grant has been paid.

A person may qualify for the FHOR when purchasing some or all of the interest in their home with or from the Housing Authority. The assessment of duty on these transactions differs depending on the circumstances.

Shared equity transactions with the Housing Authority that are for 100 per cent interest in the property can be self-assessed in Online Duties. If the transaction involves the purchase of a partial or further interest from the Housing Authority or the repurchase of a partial interest by the Housing Authority, the transaction must be lodged with RevenueWA.

The purchase of a further interest in a shared equity home from the Housing Authority may also qualify for the FHOR if the transaction satisfies the criteria. The purchase of a further interest will be assessed under the same dutiable rates and thresholds that applied to the purchase of the initial interest.

For the FHOR to apply, the transaction must be within ten years of the original transaction and between the same transferee as the original transferee and a person who is not an interested person.

See information about Shared Equity Transactions.

Use Form FDA9 'Reduction of Transfer Duty for a Further Concessional Transaction' to apply for an assessment or reassessment of an acquisition of a further interest in dutiable property that was a first home owner concessional transaction.

As the FHOR is aligned with the criteria and conditions for the grant, the transferee must meet the grant requirements regardless of whether they receive the grant. This includes notifying the Commissioner of State Revenue within 30 days of the date it becomes apparent that any eligibility criteria will not be met.

See the ‘First Home Owner Grant’ fact sheet for the criteria and conditions that must be met.

If a person is required to repay the grant, a transaction that has been assessed at the FHOR will be reassessed at the general rate of duty.

Penalty

Providing false or misleading information is an offence under the Taxation Administration Act 2003 for which the maximum penalty is $20,000 plus three times the amount of tax that was or might have been avoided.