WA Foreign Buyer Duty & Ongoing Property Taxes

Western Australia charges foreign buyers extra duty at the time of purchase, but — unlike several other states — doesn’t currently charge foreign owners extra land tax every year after that. Both halves of that sentence matter when you’re comparing WA to buying elsewhere in Australia.

1. Foreign buyers duty (paid once, at settlement)

WA applies foreign buyers duty of 7% of the dutiable value of the property, on top of standard transfer (stamp) duty, when a “foreign person” (an individual who isn’t an Australian citizen or permanent resident) or a foreign enterprise acquires residential property in WA. It also applies to landholder acquisitions in some entity structures.

This is paid in addition to ordinary transfer duty — not instead of it — so your total duty bill is standard duty plus the 7% surcharge on the full dutiable value.

2. Standard transfer duty (everyone pays this)

Ordinary transfer duty in WA is calculated on a marginal scale based on the dutiable value of the property. As a general indication of the shape of the scale:

Dutiable value	Indicative marginal rate
Up to $120,000	~1.9%
$120,001–$150,000	~2.85%
$150,001–$360,000	~3.8%
$360,001–$725,000	~4.75%
Above $725,000	~5.15%

Treat this table as directional only — thresholds and rates are set by RevenueWA and can change. Before making an offer, run your exact purchase price through RevenueWA’s transfer duty calculator to get a precise figure, then add the 7% foreign buyers duty surcharge on top if it applies to you.

3. Land tax — where WA differs from the eastern states

This is a genuinely important difference if you’re comparing WA against NSW, Victoria or Queensland: as of 2026, Western Australia does not impose an additional land tax surcharge on foreign or absentee owners. Compare that to:

State	Foreign/absentee land tax surcharge
NSW	~4% surcharge land tax
Victoria	~4% absentee owner surcharge
Queensland	~3% foreign surcharge
South Australia	~0.5% surcharge
Western Australia	None currently

WA foreign owners still pay ordinary land tax on the same basis as any other owner (assessed annually on the unimproved value of land you own above the tax-free threshold, with your principal place of residence typically exempt). There’s just no extra foreign-owner loading on top, which is one reason WA is often cheaper to hold property in long-term than NSW or Victoria for foreign investors.

This is current government policy, not a permanent guarantee — state budgets can and do introduce new surcharges. Check RevenueWA directly for the current position before treating it as a long-term certainty.

4. Two costs that follow you after settlement

• Federal vacancy fee — charged by the ATO if your dwelling isn’t occupied for 183+ days in a year (see our FIRB guide). This is separate from any state tax.
• Foreign resident capital gains withholding (FRCGW) — since 1 January 2025, the buyer’s representative must withhold 15% of the sale price (not just the gain) on any property sale by a foreign resident and remit it to the ATO — this applies regardless of the sale price now that the previous $750,000 threshold has been removed. Foreign residents generally can’t obtain the clearance certificate that would avoid this. See our Selling & Exit Guide for the full picture, including the main residence exemption and CGT discount rules that also work differently for foreign residents.

Budgeting checklist

When pricing out a WA purchase, foreign buyers typically need to account for:

1. Purchase price
2. Standard WA transfer duty
3. 7% foreign buyers duty surcharge
4. FIRB application fee (see FIRB guide)
5. Settlement agent / conveyancing fees
6. Building and pest inspections
7. Ongoing: council rates, water/land tax, strata fees (if applicable), and the vacancy fee risk if left unoccupied

Related reading

• Worked Cost Example — see these figures applied to a real scenario
• FIRB Approval Guide
• Financing Guide
• Selling & Exit: CGT Withholding
• How to Buy: the full step-by-step process