Foreign Purchaser Surcharge Calculator VIC

What this calculator works out

This tool estimates the Victorian Foreign Purchaser Additional Duty (FPAD) — the extra 8% transfer duty the State Revenue Office (SRO) charges on residential property bought by a foreign purchaser. FPAD is set out in Part 4A of the Duties Act 2000 (Vic) and is paid on top of the ordinary land transfer duty calculated by our VIC Stamp Duty Calculator. The tool runs the SRO classification — including the 200-day residency test for permanent residents and the practical-control test for discretionary trusts and companies — and then puts the same dutiable value through the NSW Surcharge Purchaser Duty (9% from 1 January 2025) and the QLD Additional Foreign Acquirer Duty (8% from 1 July 2024) so cross-border buyers can see how the bill changes by state.

What it does not do: it does not calculate ordinary land transfer duty, the FIRB application fee, the absentee owner land tax surcharge or capital gains withholding. Use the linked state stamp duty calculators for the base duty, and treat this page as the FPAD-specific overlay.

How the figure is calculated

The Victorian rate has been a flat 8% of the dutiable value since 1 July 2019. The dutiable value is the contract price or the market value of the property, whichever is higher — and importantly, the off-the-plan concession that reduces ordinary duty does not reduce FPAD. The 8% is calculated on the gross dutiable value before any OTP discount.

The hard part is not the arithmetic — it is the foreign-person test. The Duties Act 2000 (Vic) Part 4A and the SRO's Foreign Purchaser Additional Duty page set out who is caught:

Status	Foreign person in VIC?	Why
Australian citizen	No	Excluded by definition.
Permanent resident, ordinarily resident OR ≥200 days in Australia in the prior 12 months	No	Meets the SRO residency test.
Permanent resident who has not yet met the 200-day / ordinarily-resident test	Yes	Treated as foreign at contract date.
Temporary visa (482 / 485 / student / WHM / bridging)	Yes	Caught regardless of length of stay.
Foreign national with no Australian visa	Yes	Foreign natural person.
Company more than 50% foreign-owned or controlled	Yes	Foreign corporation.
Discretionary trust with potential foreign beneficiary (no exclusion deed)	Yes	SRO applies a practical-control test.
Discretionary trust whose deed excludes all foreign beneficiaries before contract	No	Most common workaround.

Liability is set on the contract date, not the settlement date. A buyer who later changes visa status — for example a temporary visa holder who becomes a permanent resident before settlement — is still assessed against their position on the day they signed.

How to read the inputs

• Dutiable value (AUD) — Contract price or market value, whichever is higher. For off-the-plan, use the gross contract price; the OTP discount that reduces ordinary duty does not flow through to FPAD.
• Purchaser status — Pick the line that best describes the buyer at the contract date. If the buyer is a couple or partnership, the SRO can apportion FPAD across the foreign share — a single-status dropdown is a simplification.
• Days physically present in Australia in the prior 12 months — Only shown for permanent residents. The test is met at 200 days or more, OR if the buyer is ordinarily resident in Australia immediately before the contract.
• Foreign ownership / interest percentage — Only shown for companies and discretionary trusts. The 50% controlling-interest line is the practical threshold for FPAD; the SRO can still look behind a structure where there is evidence of foreign control.
• Trust deed excludes foreign beneficiaries — Only shown for discretionary trusts. The SRO accepts a properly drafted exclusion deed signed before the contract date as removing FPAD exposure.

Foreign-person flowchart (Victoria)

            Buyer signs contract
                     │
       ┌─────────────┴─────────────┐
       │                           │
 Australian citizen?         everyone else
       │                           │
      NO  →  not foreign,    Permanent resident?
            no FPAD               │
                     ┌────────────┴────────────┐
                    YES                        NO
                     │                          │
            ≥200 days in Aus               Temporary visa,
            in prior 12 months,            foreign national,
            OR ordinarily                  foreign company,
            resident?                      foreign trust?
                     │                          │
                ┌────┴────┐                YES → foreign,
               YES        NO              FPAD 8% applies
                │         │
             not          foreign,
             foreign      FPAD 8%
                          applies

For companies, swap the bottom branches for "more than 50% foreign-owned or controlled?" — yes triggers the surcharge. For discretionary trusts, the practical-control test catches most trusts that have not been amended to exclude foreign beneficiaries.

Worked examples

1. Temporary visa holder buying an established home for $800,000. A skilled migrant on a 482 visa signs a contract for an established two-bedroom apartment in Brunswick at $800,000. They are treated as a foreign person under Part 4A of the Duties Act 2000 (Vic). FPAD = 8% × $800,000 = about $64,000. Ordinary land transfer duty applies on top — see the VIC Stamp Duty Calculator. At the same dutiable value, NSW Surcharge Purchaser Duty would be 9% × $800,000 = $72,000, and QLD AFAD 8% × $800,000 = $64,000.

2. Permanent resident with 240 days in Australia. A migrant on a 189 permanent visa has been physically present in Australia for 240 of the last 365 days. They sign a $950,000 contract for a townhouse in Footscray. Because the SRO test is met (≥200 days), they are not treated as a foreign person. FPAD = $0. The same buyer would also escape NSW Surcharge Purchaser Duty (which uses the same 200-day test) and QLD AFAD (where permanent residents are generally not treated as foreign).

3. Recently arrived permanent resident. A 189 visa holder who landed in Melbourne five months ago has been in Australia for only 150 of the last 365 days. They sign a $700,000 contract for an off-the-plan apartment in Box Hill with a quoted dutiable value of $400,000 after the OTP concession. Because the residency test is not met, they are treated as a foreign person. FPAD applies on the gross $700,000 contract price (the OTP discount does not flow through), giving 8% × $700,000 = about $56,000. The same buyer in QLD would escape AFAD entirely because QLD generally treats permanent residents as not foreign — illustrating the practical state-by-state difference.

4. Discretionary family trust without an exclusion deed. An Australian-resident professional couple buys a $1,000,000 investment unit in St Kilda through their family discretionary trust. The trust deed does not formally exclude foreign beneficiaries — the deed simply names the immediate family as primary beneficiaries with general powers to add others. Because the SRO applies a practical-control test, the trust is treated as a foreign trust under Part 4A. FPAD = 8% × $1,000,000 = about $80,000, even though no foreign beneficiary has ever received a distribution. The fix is amending the deed in writing before contract date to formally exclude all foreign beneficiaries, then keeping the executed amendment and trustee minutes on file.

5. Foreign-controlled company. An offshore parent uses an Australian special-purpose company to buy a $1,250,000 inner-Melbourne apartment. The parent owns 60% of the SPV. Because foreign ownership exceeds the 50% controlling-interest threshold, the SPV is a foreign corporation. FPAD = 8% × $1,250,000 = about $100,000. If foreign ownership were 40% instead, the SPV would generally not be caught — though the SRO can still look at practical control, voting agreements and side letters.

NSW vs VIC vs QLD — the practical differences

Feature	VIC FPAD	NSW Surcharge Purchaser Duty	QLD AFAD
Headline rate	8% of dutiable value	9% of dutiable value (from 1 Jan 2025)	8% of dutiable value (from 1 Jul 2024)
Permanent resident default	Foreign unless 200-day test met	Foreign unless 200-day test met	Generally not foreign
Trust treatment	Practical-control test, exclusion deed common	Practical-control test, exclusion deed common	FIRB-style test, deed exclusion can help
Off-the-plan concession reduces surcharge?	No	No	No
Refund if status changes after settlement?	Generally no	Generally no	Generally no

Permanent residents who split time between countries are the group most often surprised by FPAD: a buyer who is "Australian enough" for everyday purposes can still owe a six-figure surcharge in VIC or NSW because they were not in the country for 200 days in the year before they signed.

Common pitfalls

• OTP discount does not reduce FPAD. Buyers who are used to the off-the-plan concession on ordinary duty assume FPAD also drops — it does not. The 8% is calculated on the gross contract price.
• Status is locked at contract date. A temporary visa holder who is offered permanent residency between contract and settlement cannot reduce FPAD by switching status before settlement.
• Discretionary trusts are caught by default. Even an Australian family trust with no foreign connection can be treated as foreign in VIC because the deed does not formally exclude foreign beneficiaries. Get the deed reviewed by a duties specialist before signing.
• Couples and joint purchasers are apportioned. Where one buyer is foreign and one is an Australian citizen, FPAD generally applies to the foreign buyer's share — not the whole property. The SRO assesses the foreign share rather than treating the entire transaction as foreign.
• Land tax has its own foreign surcharge. FPAD is the one-off transfer duty surcharge; the absentee owner surcharge is the annual land tax overlay. They are separate. Use the VIC Land Tax Calculator for the annual position.
• State boundaries matter. A buyer who would owe $80,000 of FPAD on a $1M Melbourne unit might owe $0 on the same-priced Brisbane unit because QLD treats permanent residents as not foreign. The state of the property — not the buyer's home state — drives which rate applies.

When to talk to a professional

This calculator gives a general estimate based on the rates published by the State Revenue Office Victoria, Revenue NSW and the Queensland Revenue Office at the Updated date below. Binding outcomes — particularly those involving trust deed amendments, partial foreign interests, FIRB applications, joint purchasers and complex visa histories — should be confirmed by a Victorian-registered conveyancer, a duties specialist or a registered migration agent before the contract is signed. Liability is set on contract date, so the time to get advice is before exchange, not after.

Related calculators

• VIC Stamp Duty Calculator — the ordinary Victorian land transfer duty that runs alongside FPAD, including the FHB exemption, PPR concession and pensioner concession.
• NSW Stamp Duty Calculator — the equivalent base duty for NSW where the 9% Surcharge Purchaser Duty applies on top.
• QLD Stamp Duty Calculator — the equivalent base duty for Queensland where the 8% AFAD applies on top.
• VIC Land Tax Calculator — model the annual land tax with the 2% absentee owner surcharge that runs alongside FPAD.
• VIC Vacant Residential Land Tax Calculator — the third Victorian property-tax overlay foreign owners need to model.

Sources:

• State Revenue Office Victoria — Foreign Purchaser Additional Duty
• State Revenue Office Victoria — Foreign Purchaser Additional Duty current rates
• Duties Act 2000 (Vic), Part 4A — Foreign purchaser provisions
• Revenue NSW — Surcharge purchaser duty
• Queensland Revenue Office — Additional Foreign Acquirer Duty