Vehicle Stamp Duty in Australia by State
ACT
Stamp duty on new vehicles in the ACT is charged as follows:
- 3% of the vehicle price inclusive of GST up to $45,000
- 5% for every dollar over $45,000
New South Wales
Stamp duty on vehicle purchases is charged as follows:
- 3% of the vehicle price inclusive of GST up to $45,000
- 5% for every dollar over $45,000
Example - a car costing $65,000, stamp duty would be charged at 3% of $45,000 plus 5% of $20,000 (the amount above the $45,000 threshold) = $1,350 + $1,000 = $2,350
Queensland
- Electric/Hybrid (any number of cylinders): 2%
All other cars:
- up to 4 cyl: 3%
- up to 6 cyl: 3.5%
- 7 or more cyl: 4%
Tractors & mobile machinery: flat rate of $25
Victoria
Victoria has three thresholds for stamp duty charges though the percentage applies to the total market value of the vehicle.
- 2.5% of the vehicle price up to $35,000
- 4% of the total price where this lies between $35,000 and $45,000
- 5% of the total price where this is over $45,000
South Australia
South Australia has a low threshold that must be observed
- $60 for the first $3,000 of the purchase price (or part thereof)
- 4% for every dollar over $3,000
Tasmania
Tasmania has a structure based on three price margins
- 3% of the purchase price up to $35,000
- 11% for every dollar between $35,000 and $45,000
- 4% for every dollar over $45,000
Western Australia
WA has probably the most complicated stamp duty structure in Australia!
- 2.75% of the vehicle price up to $20,000
- A sliding scale is used between $20,000 and $45,000 from 2.75% to 6.5%
- 6.5% for every dollar over $45,000
From January 1st 2009, the rates will change to:
- 2.75% of the vehicle price up to $25,000
- A sliding scale is used between $25,000 and $50,000 from 2.75% to 6.5%
- 6.5% for every dollar over $50,000
Remember that for new vehicles, stamp duty should always be included in any on-road cost.
Luxury Car Tax
On top of state taxes, the federal government have GST & the luxury car tax (Paid to the ATO).
What is the luxury car tax threshold?
The luxury car tax threshold is equal to the car limit, which is $57,123 for the 2007–08 financial year. The tax is applied to the Ex GST & ex Stamp duty price.
The 2008 budget has raised this tax to 33%
Info sourced from: the ATO website.
Luxury Car Tax is payable to the Australian Tax Office for all vehicles purchased whose price exceeds the luxury car tax threshold (currently $57,009) except for the cases described below.
Luxury Car Tax is payable only on the purchase amount exceeding this limit - not the entire purchase price.
In short, Luxury Car Tax is calculated as 33% of the GST exclusive portion of the vehicle purchase price over $57,009. It can be calculated using the following steps:
- Calculate the amount subject to LCT. Take the full price of the vehicle and subtract $57,123. For example a vehicle whose GST inclusive price is $100,000 has $100,000 less $57,123 which equals $42,877 subject to Luxury Car Tax
- Find the GST exclusive portion of the above figure. The easiest way to do this is to multiply the figure by 10 and then divide by 11. In the above example: $42,877 x 10 / 11 leaves $38,979
- Thirdly multiple this above figure by 33% to calculate the LCT component on the vehicle price. In our example $38,979 x 33% leaves $12,863 of luxury car tax.
The Luxury Car Tax should then of course be added onto the GST inclusive price of the car. The supply price for the above example would be $112,863.
