Is GST charged on real estate commission in New Zealand?

Yes. Real estate commission attracts GST at 15%, and agencies almost always quote their rates exclusive of GST. A quoted 2.9% is really 3.335% of the sale price once GST is added. Check every quote carefully, because a rate that looks lower than a rival's can be identical once GST is applied to both.

Does my mortgage come out of the sale price or do I pay it separately?

It comes straight out of the sale price. Your lender holds a registered mortgage over the title and will not release it until the loan is repaid, so your lawyer obtains a discharge statement, pays the lender out of the settlement funds, and sends you whatever is left. You never see the gross sale price in your account.

Will I pay a break fee for repaying my fixed rate mortgage early?

Possibly. If you repay a fixed rate loan before the fixed term ends, most New Zealand banks charge an early repayment recovery amount based on the difference between your fixed rate and current wholesale rates for the remaining term. It can be nil when rates have risen since you fixed, and thousands of dollars when rates have fallen. Ask your bank for a written break cost quote before you sign a sale and purchase agreement, as the figure changes daily.

Do I pay tax when I sell my house in New Zealand?

Usually not if it is your own home. The bright-line test is a flat two years for residential property sold on or after 1 July 2024, and the main home exclusion generally applies where the property has been your main home for most of the time you owned it, so most owner-occupiers pay nothing. Tax is more likely on a rental, a bach, a property held in a trust or company, or where you have a pattern of buying and selling. If you are unsure, get advice before you sign.

How is bright-line tax on a house sale calculated?

The taxable amount is broadly the sale price less what the property cost you, including the original purchase price, capital improvements, and the incidental costs of buying and selling such as agent commission, marketing and legal fees. That net gain is added to your other income for the year and taxed at your marginal rate under the 2026/27 brackets of 10.5% to $15,600, 17.5% to $53,500, 30% to $78,100, 33% to $180,000 and 39% above that. The figure this calculator shows is indicative only and is not tax advice.

What does it cost to sell a house in New Zealand?

Commission is the dominant cost, commonly running 2.5% to 4% of the sale price plus GST under a tiered structure, or a fixed fee of roughly $10,000 to $15,000 plus GST with a flat-fee agency. Around it, marketing and advertising typically run $1,000 to $10,000 depending on the campaign, and legal and conveyancing on a sale typically run $1,300 to $2,500. Total selling costs commonly land somewhere around 3% to 5% of the sale price.

What is the difference between this and the cost of selling a house calculator?

The cost of selling a house calculator totals what selling costs you, which is the right tool when you are comparing agency quotes or deciding whether to spend on staging. This calculator answers a different question: what you walk away with. That is why the mortgage payoff is central here, because for most sellers the loan being discharged is far larger than every selling cost combined and it is what determines the deposit available for the next purchase.

Net Sale Proceeds Calculator

Quick answer: Your net sale proceeds are the sale price less agent commission plus 15% GST, marketing, legal fees, any break fee, any bright-line tax, moving costs, and the mortgage your lawyer repays on settlement. On an $850,000 sale with 2.9% commission, $2,500 of marketing, $1,600 of legal fees, $2,000 of moving costs and a $420,000 mortgage to discharge, you walk away with about $395,552.50. The costs alone are $34,447.50, or 4.05% of the sale price. Enter your own numbers below.

This calculator answers the question every New Zealand seller actually asks: if I sell my house, how much money do I walk away with? It starts with your sale price and subtracts every cost that stands between the sale going unconditional and the money landing in your bank account, then subtracts the mortgage your lawyer has to repay on settlement day. Real estate commission is usually the largest single selling cost, so you can enter a rate, enter a dollar figure you have already been quoted, or pick an agency to use its published or indicative structure, and the calculator adds 15% GST on top, because commission in New Zealand is always quoted exclusive of GST. Around that sit marketing and advertising, your lawyer's conveyancing fee, any early repayment or break fee on a fixed loan, moving costs, an optional other-costs field, and an optional bright-line tax estimate for the minority of sales that are taxable. The headline result is your net proceeds, the cash in hand, supported by an itemised breakdown of every deduction and your total costs as a percentage of the sale price. It updates instantly as you type. Figures are indicative planning estimates, not a settlement statement, so confirm the final numbers with your lawyer and your lender before you commit to anything.

Updated July 2026 Current rates and legislation applied.

Two different questions. Our Cost of Selling a House Calculator answers what does selling cost me, which is the tool to use when you are comparing agency quotes or weighing up staging spend. This page answers what do I walk away with, which is why the mortgage payoff sits at the centre of it. For most sellers the loan being discharged dwarfs every selling cost combined, and it is the number that decides the deposit available for the next house. Use the two together: that one to control your costs, this one to plan your next move.

Verification & Methodology

GST on commission: 15%, applied to the commission and any agency administration fee. Commission is quoted GST-exclusive by New Zealand agencies as standard.
Agency structures: read from our maintained commission rate file, last researched 27 July 2026. Structures flagged as indicative are typical NZ patterns, not published rate cards, and every rate in New Zealand is negotiable. Verify with the office before relying on a figure.
Legal and conveyancing: roughly $1,300 to $2,500 on a straightforward residential sale (default $1,600, editable). Marketing: roughly $1,000 to $10,000 depending on the campaign (default $2,500, editable). Both are typical NZ ranges, not fixed prices.
Bright-line test: a flat 2 years for residential property sold on or after 1 July 2024. The main home exclusion generally applies to an owner-occupier, so most people selling their own home pay nothing. Where it does apply, the gain is taxed at your marginal rate using the 2026/27 brackets: 10.5% to $15,600, 17.5% to $53,500, 30% to $78,100, 33% to $180,000, 39% above.
Break fees: not modelled from a formula, because each bank calculates its early repayment recovery from its own wholesale funding position on the day. Enter the written quote from your lender.
Last verified: July 2026, against current Inland Revenue guidance and the maintained NZ commission rate file.
Source data: Inland Revenue, the bright-line property rule, Inland Revenue, GST, and the Real Estate Authority's guidance on agency agreements and commission.

Expected Sale Price

The gross price before anything comes out.

Real estate commission How do you want to enter it? All three are treated as GST-exclusive. The calculator adds 15% GST on top.

Commission Rate (plus GST)

Tiered NZ structures work out around 2.5% to 4% of the sale price plus GST.

Commission Quoted (plus GST)

Use the GST-exclusive figure on the agency agreement.

Agency Indicative structures from our maintained NZ rate file. Every rate is negotiable, so confirm with the office.

Marketing and Advertising

Editable estimate. NZ campaigns typically run $1,000 to $10,000. Legal and Conveyancing

Editable estimate. A sale typically runs $1,300 to $2,500.

Mortgage to be discharged Loan Balance to Repay

The payout figure on your lender's discharge statement, not last year's balance. Early Repayment / Break Fee

Nil on a floating loan. On a fixed loan, ask your bank for a written quote.

Bright-line tax (optional)

This sale is inside the bright-line period and the main home exclusion does not apply

Original Purchase Price (plus improvements)

Your Marginal Tax Rate Indicative only, not tax advice. Most owner-occupiers pay nothing here.

Moving Costs

Removalists, storage and cleaning. Replace with a real quote. Any Other Costs

Staging, repairs, a rates or body corporate adjustment, or anything else.

Net Proceeds (Cash In Hand)

Mortgage repaid: $0

Total Costs to Sell

0.00% of sale price

Sale price	$0.00
Real estate commission (2.9% plus GST)	− $0.00
GST on commission (15%)	− $0.00
Marketing and advertising	− $0.00
Legal and conveyancing	− $0.00
Early repayment / break fee	− $0.00
Bright-line tax on the gain	− $0.00
Moving costs	− $0.00
Other costs	− $0.00
Total costs to sell (0.00% of sale price)	− $0.00
Mortgage payoff on settlement	− $0.00
Net proceeds (cash in hand)	$0.00

The cost percentage is measured against the sale price and deliberately excludes the mortgage payoff, because repaying your own loan is not a cost of selling, it is settling a debt you already owed. Greyed lines are set to zero. Estimates only, not a settlement statement and not legal, tax or financial advice.

What to do next: Talk to a mortgage adviser about your discharge and your next purchase, ideally before you list rather than after you sell. An adviser can get your bank's written break cost quote, tell you whether your existing loan can be ported to the next property instead of being broken and re-borrowed, and turn the net proceeds figure above into a realistic price range for your next home, including whether you need bridging finance if the two settlement dates do not line up. That conversation costs you nothing and is usually the difference between a smooth chain and a stressful one.

What Net Sale Proceeds Actually Means

Net sale proceeds are the money that reaches your bank account after settlement. It is a very different number from the sale price on the agency's sold sticker, and the gap between the two surprises sellers every week in New Zealand. Nothing about the process gives you the gross price. Your lawyer receives the purchase money from the buyer's lawyer on settlement day, pays out anything registered against the title or already committed, and pays you the balance. That balance is your net proceeds. Everything on this page is a line that sits between the two figures.

Why the Mortgage Payoff Belongs in This Calculation

Your lender holds a registered mortgage over the title, and the buyer will not accept the property with it still there. So your lawyer requests a discharge statement from the bank, repays the loan in full out of the settlement money, and the bank releases its security. You have no choice in the order of events and no opportunity to divert the funds. For a household that bought a few years ago, the mortgage discharge is commonly two thirds or more of the sale price, so it dominates the answer to the question people are really asking, which is how much can I put down on the next house. That is the whole reason this calculator exists alongside our cost of selling tool.

One important detail: use the payout figure from your lender's discharge statement, not the balance you remember from your last statement. The payout includes interest accrued to the settlement date and any fees, and on a fixed loan it can include an early repayment recovery amount that is calculated only on the day. If you have a revolving credit facility or an offset arrangement, the discharge amount is the facility limit that has been drawn, so check it rather than assuming.

Commission and the 15% GST On Top

Real estate commission is quoted exclusive of GST in New Zealand, without exception in ordinary residential practice. That means the 2.9% you were quoted is really 3.335% of the sale price once the 15% GST is added, and a quoted $24,650 is really $28,347.50 payable. This is the single most common mistake in a seller's own back-of-the-envelope maths, and on a mid-priced home it is a $3,000 to $5,000 error.

Structures vary. Most full-service agencies use a tiered rate, commonly a higher percentage on the first $350,000 to $500,000 and a lower percentage on the balance, with a minimum fee that bites on lower-priced properties. Low-fee agencies use a reduced percentage with a minimum and sometimes an administration fee. Flat-fee agencies charge a set dollar amount by price band, and their published bands cover a defined price range with a floor as well as a ceiling. Outside that range, at either end, the fee is negotiated individually, so on an expensive property you cannot assume the top band fee is what you will pay, and on a modestly priced one you cannot assume the bottom band fee applies either. The agency picker on this page uses our maintained rate file and shows the structure it has applied, but every commission in New Zealand is negotiable and the figures are indicative, so confirm the exact terms in the agency agreement before you sign it.

Marketing, Legal Fees and the Smaller Lines

Marketing and advertising are charged separately from commission and are usually payable whether or not the property sells, which is worth knowing before you agree to a large campaign. Budgets typically run from about $1,000 for a modest online-only listing to $10,000 or more for a full auction campaign with print, video, signage and staging photography. Legal and conveyancing on a sale is usually simpler than on a purchase and typically runs $1,300 to $2,500, though a cross-lease, unit title or subdivided title can push it higher. Both figures on this page are editable estimates, not quoted prices, so replace them with your own numbers as soon as you have them.

When Bright-Line Tax Applies, and When It Does Not

For residential property sold on or after 1 July 2024, the bright-line test is a flat two years. If you bought and sold within that window, the sale is potentially taxable. The critical qualifier for most readers is the main home exclusion: where the property has been your main home for most of the period you owned it, the bright-line test generally does not tax the sale, which is why the great majority of New Zealanders selling the house they live in pay nothing here. The bright-line box on this calculator is therefore off by default.

Where it does apply, the taxable amount is broadly the sale price less the property's cost, which includes the original purchase price, capital improvements, and the incidental costs of buying and selling such as agent commission, marketing and legal fees. This calculator deducts your commission including GST, marketing and legal fees from the gain before applying your rate, but it does not deduct moving costs or the break fee, which are not costs of acquiring or disposing of the property. The resulting gain is added to your other income for the year and taxed at your marginal rate, so a large gain can push part of it into a higher bracket than the single rate you pick here. Other rules can also make a sale taxable regardless of the bright-line test, including the intention test and the rules for land dealers, builders and developers. Treat the number this page produces as an indication that you need advice, not as a substitute for it.

Worked Example

Rachel and Tui are selling their Hamilton home and expect $850,000. They have signed an agency agreement at 2.9% plus GST, so the commission is $850,000 × 2.9% = $24,650, and the 15% GST on that is $3,697.50, making $28,347.50 payable to the agency. Their marketing campaign is $2,500 and their lawyer has quoted $1,600 for the sale. They are moving across town and budget $2,000 for removalists and cleaning, with no other costs. Their total cost to sell is $28,347.50 + $2,500 + $1,600 + $2,000 = $34,447.50, which is 4.05% of the sale price.

Their loan is on a floating rate, so there is no break fee, and the discharge statement shows $420,000 owing. The house has been their main home since they bought it in 2019, so the bright-line test does not apply and there is no tax line. Their net proceeds are $850,000 − $34,447.50 − $420,000 = $395,552.50. That is the figure their lawyer will pay them a day or two after settlement, and the figure they should be using as the deposit for their next purchase, not the $850,000 headline and not the $430,000 of equity they had assumed by simply subtracting the loan.

Change one input and the picture shifts. If their loan had been fixed for another 18 months and the bank quoted a $6,200 break fee, their costs rise to $40,647.50 and their net proceeds fall to $389,352.50, which is a real argument for asking whether the loan can be ported to the next property instead.

Who This Calculator Is For

This is for anyone in New Zealand who is selling, or thinking about selling, and needs to know the actual cash result rather than the sale price. It suits homeowners trading up or down who need a deposit figure for the next purchase, sellers comparing agency quotes who want to see the GST-inclusive effect on their own bottom line, anyone in a tight equity position who needs to check the sale clears the mortgage, and investors and executors working out what a sale actually returns. If you only want the cost side, use the cost of selling a house calculator instead.

What This Calculator Assumes

15% GST is added to the commission and any agency administration fee, on the basis that the rate you enter or the agency structure you pick is GST-exclusive, which is standard NZ practice.
Agency structures are read from our maintained NZ commission rate file and are indicative. All commission is negotiable and must be confirmed in the agency agreement.
The bright-line test is a flat 2 years for residential property sold on or after 1 July 2024, and the main home exclusion is assumed to apply unless you tick the box.
Bright-line tax is calculated at the single marginal rate you select on the gain after commission, GST, marketing and legal fees. In reality the gain is added to your other income and can straddle brackets.
Marketing, legal, moving and break fee figures are your inputs, defaulted to typical NZ ranges. They are not quotes.
Rates arrears, body corporate levies, unpaid water and any caveat or second charge on the title also come out at settlement. Use the other costs field for those.
Results are indicative only and do not constitute legal, tax or financial advice.

Related NZ Property and Mortgage Calculators

Cost of Selling a House Calculator: the companion tool, which totals what selling costs you rather than what you walk away with.
Real Estate Commission Comparison Calculator: compare the commission every major NZ agency would charge on your sale price, side by side and GST-inclusive.
Bright-Line Comprehensive Calculator: work out properly whether your sale is inside the bright-line period and whether the main home exclusion applies.
Conveyancing Fee Calculator: refine the legal fee estimate used on this page.
Home Equity Access Calculator: if you would rather borrow against the equity than sell, see how much of it a bank will let you draw.

Official NZ sources

This calculator is built from primary New Zealand sources. Always confirm current figures against the official source for your situation:

Inland Revenue (IRD) to the bright-line property rule and the 2-year period
Inland Revenue (IRD) to the main home exclusion
Inland Revenue (IRD) to GST at 15%, charged on real estate commission
Real Estate Authority (REA) to agency agreements, commission and selling a property

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