Stamp duty on commercial property in Queensland: what you'll pay and how to fund it

Yes, a business buying its premises in Queensland pays stamp duty, officially called transfer duty. Commercial property is charged on the general scale, which runs from nil to $38,025 plus $5.75 for every $100 over $1 million. There’s no business concession. Two details catch buyers out: duty is calculated on the GST-inclusive price, and liability usually starts when you sign the contract, not when you settle.

Below is the full calculation for commercial buyers, a few worked examples from Toowoomba to the TradeCoast, and how owners actually find the cash.

How much stamp duty do you pay on commercial property in Queensland?

The Queensland Revenue Office (QRO) applies one set of general transfer duty rates to commercial and investment property. The same scale covers corporate trustee duty and landholder duty, so it doesn’t matter whether you buy in your own name, through a company or as trustee of a trust.

Band (dutiable value)	Duty at the bottom of the band	Each extra $100 in the band adds
$0 – $5,000	Nil	Nil
$5,000 – $75,000	Nil	$1.50
$75,000 – $540,000	$1,050	$3.50
$540,000 – $1m	$17,325	$4.50
Above $1m	$38,025	$5.75

Part-hundreds count as a full $100, so an odd price rounds up. Here’s what that means at typical business-premises prices:

Dutiable value	Duty payable
$400,000 (small strata office)	$12,425
$750,000 (shop or small workshop)	$26,775
$1,500,000 (warehouse)	$66,775
$3,000,000 (larger industrial site)	$153,025

Above $1 million, every extra $100,000 on the price adds $5,750 in duty. That matters when you’re negotiating. Knocking $50,000 off a $1.6m factory also cuts the duty by $2,875.

What is the “dutiable value”, and why does GST matter?

QRO says duty is charged on the higher of the consideration (what you agree to pay, including any liabilities you take over) and the property’s unencumbered value, which is usually market value. A cheap related-party sale doesn’t get a cheap duty bill.

GST is where business buyers lose money without noticing. Under QRO’s public ruling DA011.1.1, when a contract says the price is “plus GST”, that GST amount forms part of the consideration. Duty is then charged on the GST-inclusive figure. You can usually claim the GST back on your BAS if you’re registered, but you can’t claim back the extra duty.

There are three common set-ups on Queensland commercial contracts:

1. Price plus GST (a taxable supply). Typical for vacant premises bought from a GST-registered seller. Duty is charged on the price plus GST.
2. Margin scheme. Usually only for property the seller originally bought without GST. The GST component is smaller, so the duty base sits in between.
3. Sale of a going concern. A tenanted building sold with its leases can be GST-free if the ATO’s going concern conditions are met. Both parties must agree in writing, and the buyer must be registered, or required to register, for GST. With no GST in the price, the dutiable value stays lower.

If you’re buying premises to occupy yourself, it usually won’t be a going concern unless you’re also taking over an existing lease. Get your accountant to read the GST clause before you sign, not after.

Illustrative example: a workshop in Toowoomba

Illustrative example. A diesel mechanic has leased a shed in Torrington, on Toowoomba’s north-western industrial edge, for nine years. The landlord offers to sell it for $820,000 plus GST. The owner is registered for GST and plans to occupy the shed, so the sale is a taxable supply.

	Amount
Price	$820,000
GST added to the price	$82,000
Dutiable value	$902,000
Transfer duty ($17,325, then $4.50 for every $100 past $540,000)	$33,615
Duty if the price had been GST-inclusive at $820,000	$29,925

The “plus GST” wording costs $3,690 in extra duty. The $82,000 of GST comes back on the next BAS, but it still has to be paid at settlement. Say the lender values the shed at $820,000 and lends 70% of that ($574,000). The owner then needs about $361,615 at settlement before legal and valuation fees: $902,000 plus $33,615 in duty, less the loan. Roughly $82,000 of that is GST the business gets back a few weeks later.

Lenders that know the Darling Downs are comfortable with an industrial shed in Torrington or Glenvale. More specialised buildings are a different story, as our guide to regional property as loan security explains. The Toowoomba and Darling Downs page covers the local economy lenders look at.

Illustrative example: a tenanted warehouse on the TradeCoast

Illustrative example. A Brisbane freight forwarder buys a $2,400,000 warehouse at Eagle Farm, on the Australia TradeCoast. Half the building comes with a tenant on a five-year lease, and the forwarder will use the other half. Because part is vacant and not being marketed for lease, the accountant advises that it won’t qualify as a going concern, and the contract is “plus GST”.

• Duty on $2,400,000: $38,025 + $80,500 = $118,525
• Duty on $2,640,000 (price plus GST): $38,025 + $94,300 = $132,325

That’s $13,800 more duty because of how the sale is structured. Duty is often the biggest single number in the cash plan after the deposit. Sorting out the GST position before exchange is worth an hour of an accountant’s time.

Weighing up a Queensland purchase and not sure the deposit, duty and GST all add up? Check your options. Your credit file isn’t touched just for asking.

When is transfer duty due in Queensland?

Earlier than most buyers expect. According to QRO’s transfer duty page:

• The clock usually starts on the day you sign, or the day the contract goes unconditional. Settlement day doesn’t reset it.
• Most buyers have a solicitor who is a registered self assessor. Their online lodgement deadline is 30 days from that start date, and QRO gives a further 14 days to pay.
• Lodging it yourself? The same 30-day lodgement window applies, then QRO issues an assessment notice that is generally payable within about 30 days.

On a standard 30-day commercial settlement, the timing often lines up with settlement. Long settlements, due diligence periods and options to buy can push the payment date ahead of your loan funding. Ask your solicitor on day one when the duty money needs to be in their trust account, and plan your cash around that date.

Rules that don’t apply to business buyers (but fill the search results)

Most Queensland duty content online is written for home buyers. Two things you’ll see often don’t change a commercial deal:

• Home concessions and the August 2026 change. From 1 August 2026, Queensland’s home concessions require the buyer to be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or specified foreign retiree. Those concessions only cover homes bought by individuals to live in, so commercial property was never eligible and business buyers are unaffected.
• Additional foreign acquirer duty. The extra 8% applies to acquisitions of residential land by foreign persons, including foreign-linked companies and trusts. A factory, shop or office bought for business use is assessed at the general rates only. A mixed-use building with apartments is different: get advice on how the residential part is treated.

Queensland also has no equivalent of South Australia’s duty-free commercial land or the ACT’s commercial threshold. Our state-by-state stamp duty comparison and the interactive state map show how far apart the states are.

How do business owners fund stamp duty on a QLD purchase?

Commercial lenders size the loan as a percentage of the property’s value. Duty, GST and costs sit on top of that, so the buyer has to fund them from one of these:

• Retained profits or savings. Simple, but moving premises is when a business most needs its working capital for fit-out, removalists and new equipment.
• Equity in another property. If the owners have room in their home or existing premises, a lender can take it as extra security and lend enough to cover the deposit, duty and costs together. This is the most common way owners keep cash in the business.
• A short-term facility for the GST. The GST on a taxable purchase comes back on the BAS, so some buyers use a short facility to bridge those weeks rather than drain the bank account.
• A separate working capital line sized on turnover, so the move doesn’t squeeze payroll or stock.

Property-secured loans range from $20,000 to $5,000,000 over residential or commercial property, and unsecured options suit trading businesses that need a buffer. More on Queensland agencies, grants and support is in our Queensland guide.

Ready to make your Queensland premises your own?

You’ve done the maths: the duty, the GST in the price, the date the money is due. The next question is how to fund it without leaving the business short the month you move in. That’s the conversation we have with Queensland owners every week, whether it’s a workshop in Toowoomba, a warehouse at Eagle Farm or a shopfront in Mackay.

The enquiry takes about a minute, and asking won’t leave a mark on your credit score. Your details stay with our team instead of being passed around a stack of lenders, so you won’t get a flood of calls. A real person reads your situation, including the purchase price, the GST position and any other property you own, and calls you to talk it through. Please fill the form in accurately so we can find the right option the first time.

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