What a buyer pays
Across 122 places in 15 countries, the tax on a typical home runs from nothing at all to 11.50% of the price in Madhya Pradesh, India, where stamp duty and the registration fee are charged together. New Zealand charges no transfer tax on a home, and of the places that charge the buyer anything, the lightest is Colorado, United States, at 0.01% of the price.
In 8 of the countries the tax is set region by region, and in those the region matters as much as the country. In Germany the Länder set their own Grunderwerbsteuer: on a typical home of €400,000 a buyer pays 3.50% in
Bavaria and 6.50% in Brandenburg and the 3 other Länder that charge the top rate. In Spain the gap is wider still, from 6.00% in Community of Madrid to 10.00% in Catalonia.
States and provinces with their own scales
Australia's states each charge their own stamp duty on a sliding scale. On the national typical price of $850,000, a buyer in Victoria pays $46,070, and one in Queensland $24,100. Canada's provinces range from 1.71% in British Columbia down to 0.11% in Alberta, which charges a title registration fee instead of a land transfer tax.
Within the United Kingdom, England and Northern Ireland share stamp duty land tax, while Scotland and Wales levy their own. On the typical UK price of £290,000, a buyer in England pays £4,500, in Scotland £4,100 and in Wales £3,900.
Who pays, and who pays nothing
In the United States the tax is often the seller's. Of the fifty states and the District of Columbia, 23 charge a transfer tax that falls on the seller by law or by custom, so the buyer of a typical home of $400,000 pays none of it, and many of the rest charge none at all. The highest buyer's share is 1.45%, in District of Columbia. Who pays can be negotiated in a contract, so a seller's tax often reaches the price anyway.
First-time buyers
In 11 of the places studied, a first-time buyer pays less on the same home. On a typical home, a first-time buyer in England pays £0 instead of £4,500, and in New South Wales $9,797 instead of $32,437. In Ontario the provincial refund brings $10,475 down to $6,475. Most reliefs stop at a price limit, so they do less as prices rise.
What the comparison leaves out
The typical price is one national figure. Homes in London, Sydney or Toronto cost well above it, and on a scale whose rates rise with the price, buyers there pay a larger share than shown. City taxes on top of the regional one, such as Toronto's own land transfer tax, are not included, and nor are the surcharges for second homes and foreign buyers, which in several places cost more than the tax itself. For your own price, region and circumstances, use the stamp duty calculator, which works through every charge and relief.