More first home buyers in Canberra will qualify for a stamp duty exemption, saving them about $34,000, after the ACT moves to expand the scheme.
Second dwellings worth up to $1 million on RZ1 blocks in Canberra's suburbs will also be exempt from stamp duty for their first transfer, as the government seeks to encourage more dual-occupancy housing.
First-time home owners will be able to earn up to $250,000 a year and qualify for a stamp duty waiver.
The change raises the income test from $170,000 a year. The test applies to the gross income earned by all the buyers and their partners involved in the transaction.
The ACT will also allow home buyers to earn an additional $4600 for each of their children and remain eligible for the waiver, an increase from $3330 a child.
Stamp duty exemptions under the scheme are available to people who have not owned property in the past five years.
People fleeing family violence will be exempt from the five-year rule.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the government knew stamp duty could be a significant barrier to buying a home, which was why every budget since 2012 had cut stamp duty.
"The new and expanded stamp duty concessions and exemptions outlined in this year's ACT budget will support more Canberrans to find a home that suits their needs, including first homebuyers, downsizers and people with a disability," Mr Barr said.
The ACT budget will extend the RZ1 unit duty exemption scheme, which applies to the first transfer of unit titled secondary dwellings, to cover properties worth up to $1 million in 2024-25.
"This will further support the development of more dual-occupancy homes in our existing suburbs, providing more opportunities for Canberrans to find a home, including people looking to downsize in the suburbs they've called home for many years," the ACT government said.
Pensioners will be able to access a stamp duty waiver on the first $1 million of a property's value, in an effort to encourage downsizing.
This is an increase from the existing scheme which offers a stamp duty waiver for homes valued up to $550,00 and then a decreasing concession for homes valued between $550,000 and $765,000.
A disability duty concession scheme will be extended from July 1 to waive stamp duty on the first $1 million of a property's value.
"As a result, a partial concession is now available for properties over $1 million. Previously, the scheme was limited to properties valued up to $1 million," the government said.
"The government is also introducing a new severe disability duty exemption from July 1, 2025 to support people with a severe disability and their carers to find a home.
"This new exemption will exempt homes bought by people with severe disability or their carers from stamp duty if the home is their principal place of residence, without requiring the home to be bought by a special disability trust."
The ACT government is now more than halfway through a 20-year program to phase out stamp duty in favour of higher general rates, a move the government has said would be revenue neutral to the budget.
While the total amount of stamp duty collected by the ACT government has continued to rise each year, the rate levied on individual transactions has fallen.
