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Real Estate Insight

Land tax

NSW land tax calculator 2026

Add up the land value of everything you own in NSW except your home, and see the 2026 bill. Trusts, related companies and the 5% surcharge for foreign owners are all covered.

By the Real Estate Insight team · Last reviewed 6 October 2026 · How we check our numbers

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Every property you own in NSW except your home, added up. Revenue NSW uses the average of the last three years' Valuer General land values.

Decides whether a foreign owner surcharge applies. Each state draws the line differently.

New South Wales · 2026 land tax year

$6,900 a year

General rates. 0.46% of the land value. Each extra $1,000 of land adds $16.

How it adds up

Land tax $6,900
Total$6,900

The same $1,500,000 of land in every state

An Australian citizen holding it personally. ACT: one property with this AUV.

NSW $6,900
VIC $9,150
QLD $12,750
WA $7,930
SA $2,820
TAS $16,737.50
ACT $18,628
NT No land tax

About this estimate. General information, not advice. Rates and thresholds for the land tax year shown, checked against each revenue office. Your home, primary production land and other exempt land aren't counted. Revenue offices add up everything you own in the state (except in the ACT), and joint owners are also assessed on their shares alongside their other land, so your notice can differ. How we check our numbers.

NSW land tax rates for 2026

For individuals, and for a company that isn't part of a group (or is the group's nominated concessional company). The thresholds were frozen from the 2025 land tax year, so the same figures are expected for 2027 unless the law changes.

Land valueLand tax
$0 to $1,075,000Nil
$1,075,001 to $6,571,000$100 plus 1.6% of the value over $1,075,000
More than $6,571,000$88,036 plus 2% of the value over $6,571,000

If the total works out at less than $100, nothing is payable.

Which land value Revenue NSW uses

Not what you paid, and not this year's value alone. Revenue NSW averages the Valuer General's land values at 1 July over three years: the 2026 bill uses the 2023, 2024 and 2025 values. That smooths out a sudden jump, but it also means a falling market takes a couple of years to show up in your bill.

The tax is charged on the total of all your taxable land at midnight on 31 December, for the whole of the following calendar year. If a sale settles on 30 December, you won't pay for that property next year. If it settles on 2 January, you will.

Trusts and companies

Discretionary trusts are "special trusts" in NSW and get no threshold at all. Fixed trusts, bare trusts and complying super funds do get it. A unit trust only gets it if it meets the NSW fixed trust rules.

Special trusts (no threshold)
Land valueLand tax
$0 to $6,571,0001.6% of the value
More than $6,571,000$105,136 plus 2% of the value over $6,571,000

Related companies are grouped. One nominated company gets the threshold. The others pay a flat 1.6% of their own land value while the group holds no more than $6,571,000, or 2% once it holds more.

The 5% surcharge for foreign owners

Foreign persons pay surcharge land tax of 5% of the land value of their residential land every year, on top of ordinary land tax and even when no ordinary land tax is due. The rate was 2% from 2018 to 2022 and 4% for 2023 and 2024.

NSW's test is about citizenship and visas, not where you live. A temporary visa holder living in Sydney pays it. So does a permanent resident who spends fewer than 200 days in Australia in the calendar year. Companies with a substantial foreign interest, and trusts with any foreign beneficiary, can pay it too.

What's exempt

Your principal place of residence, provided you've lived there continuously from 1 July before the 31 December snapshot. From the 2026 land tax year, the people living there must own at least 25% of it. Renting out a room or one flat keeps the exemption; renting more turns it into a partial exemption. Primary production land is exempt too.

Questions people ask

What is the NSW land tax threshold for 2026?
$1,075,000 of land value for individuals and most companies, with a premium threshold of $6,571,000. Both have been frozen since the 2025 land tax year, and the 2026-27 NSW Budget left them unchanged.
How is NSW land tax calculated?
$100 plus 1.6% of the land value above $1,075,000, up to $6,571,000. Above that it's $88,036 plus 2%. The land value is the average of the last three years' Valuer General values, added up across everything you own in NSW except your home.
How much is land tax on $1.5 million in NSW?
$6,900 a year for an individual: $100 plus 1.6% of the $425,000 above the threshold. On $2 million of land it's $14,900.
Do joint owners get two land tax thresholds?
No. Revenue NSW treats joint owners as a single taxpayer for the land they own together, so a couple gets one threshold on a jointly owned investment. Each owner is also assessed on their share with their other land, with a deduction so they aren't taxed twice.
Do discretionary trusts pay land tax in NSW?
Yes, and at a higher effective rate. Discretionary trusts are "special trusts" and get no threshold: 1.6% of the land value from the first dollar, and 2% above $6,571,000.
What is surcharge land tax in NSW?
An extra 5% of the land value of residential land owned by foreign persons, charged every year with no threshold, even if no ordinary land tax is due. You're a foreign person unless you're an Australian citizen, or a permanent resident who spends at least 200 days in Australia that calendar year.
When do I get my NSW land tax notice?
Land tax is charged on what you own at midnight on 31 December, for the whole of the following year. Revenue NSW starts issuing notices in January; the 2026 notices began on 19 January 2026.
Is my home exempt from NSW land tax?
Yes, if it's your principal place of residence. From the 2026 land tax year, the people living there must together own at least 25% of it. Renting out one room or a granny flat doesn't cost you the exemption.

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