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http://www.kotsemo.com/Www/Extra/News/?newsID=223
The hidden taxes on your new car
Every time Porsche sells a new 911 Turbo in Australia, the tax man makes enough money to buy five Toyota Corollas.
That’s the startling truth about Australia’s tax regime as it applies to motor vehicles.
Taxes on new cars range from 9 per cent for Australian made vehicles to 36 per cent for the most expensive imports.
A third of the price of a new Rolls-Royce Phantom, or a staggering $300,805, goes into the government’s coffers. And that figure will rise even further when the Government lifts the luxury tax on vehicles that cost more than $57,123 from 25 to 33 per cent.
In the wake of the latest slug on car buyers, Drive has calculated the various taxes paid on 10 cars sold in Australia’s, ranging from the Hyundai Getz and Holden Commodore to the 911 Turbo and Rolls-Royce Phantom – and the results aren’t pretty.
Drive can’t tell you exactly how much import duty you pay because the 10 per cent tariff is paid on the wholesale price of the car, before the manufacturer and dealer add their profit margins.
Car companies won’t reveal how much import duty they pay because it would allow their competitors to estimate their profit margins.
So for the purpose of our table, we’ve estimated a 10 per cent profit for both the dealer and manufacturer.
The chief executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industry, Andrew McKellar, says Australia is “right up there” when it comes to taxing car buyers.
“The luxury tax in particular is far higher than any similar tax anywhere in the world,” he says.
The differences are most notable in luxury imports. For example, a Porsche 911 that costs more than $200,000 in Australia sells for less than $75,000 in the United States. Holden’s own Commodore SS, which sells for $45,290 here, costs roughly $32,000 in the States.
Australian motorists can potentially pay up to five taxes or duties when they buy a new car.
Import duty is charged when a vehicle arrives on Australian shores, then GST and luxury car taxes are levied, before stamp duty and registration fees take another slice of the pie.
“The tax burden on motorists is already substantial and the increase in luxury tax is simply a punitive measure on top of that,” he says.
He says the tax regime now hits luxury buyers three times during the sale process. Apart from the luxury tax, they also pay more GST by virtue of their car’s higher purchase price.
Then once the sale goes through, they pay a higher percentage of the sale price in stamp duty because the rate is based on a sliding scale, where the tax rate increases in most states at $30,000 and $45,000.
On a Porsche 911 turbo, the GST payable is $25,732, the luxury tax is $51,348 and the stamp duty totals $15,820. Add to that an estimated import duty of more than $20,000 and you come up with a total tax burden that is approaching the cost of a new Porsche Boxster.
The taxes payable on a Toyota LandCruiser would buy a new Toyota Yaris, while the tax on a BMW 5-Series would pay for a Volkswagen Golf.
McKellar says the other injustice is the fact that many cars that were never intended to be caught in the luxury tax net are now affected because the level at which the tax cuts in has not been adjusted in line with inflation.
“There hasn’t been any decent increase in the luxury tax threshold in the past four or five years. It hasn’t kept pace with the changes in the industry. Whatever happened to the good old Aussie notion of a fair go,” he says.
http://www.kotsemo.com/Www/Extra/News/?newsID=223
The hidden taxes on your new car
Every time Porsche sells a new 911 Turbo in Australia, the tax man makes enough money to buy five Toyota Corollas.
That’s the startling truth about Australia’s tax regime as it applies to motor vehicles.
Taxes on new cars range from 9 per cent for Australian made vehicles to 36 per cent for the most expensive imports.
A third of the price of a new Rolls-Royce Phantom, or a staggering $300,805, goes into the government’s coffers. And that figure will rise even further when the Government lifts the luxury tax on vehicles that cost more than $57,123 from 25 to 33 per cent.
In the wake of the latest slug on car buyers, Drive has calculated the various taxes paid on 10 cars sold in Australia’s, ranging from the Hyundai Getz and Holden Commodore to the 911 Turbo and Rolls-Royce Phantom – and the results aren’t pretty.
Drive can’t tell you exactly how much import duty you pay because the 10 per cent tariff is paid on the wholesale price of the car, before the manufacturer and dealer add their profit margins.
Car companies won’t reveal how much import duty they pay because it would allow their competitors to estimate their profit margins.
So for the purpose of our table, we’ve estimated a 10 per cent profit for both the dealer and manufacturer.
The chief executive of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industry, Andrew McKellar, says Australia is “right up there” when it comes to taxing car buyers.
“The luxury tax in particular is far higher than any similar tax anywhere in the world,” he says.
The differences are most notable in luxury imports. For example, a Porsche 911 that costs more than $200,000 in Australia sells for less than $75,000 in the United States. Holden’s own Commodore SS, which sells for $45,290 here, costs roughly $32,000 in the States.
Australian motorists can potentially pay up to five taxes or duties when they buy a new car.
Import duty is charged when a vehicle arrives on Australian shores, then GST and luxury car taxes are levied, before stamp duty and registration fees take another slice of the pie.
“The tax burden on motorists is already substantial and the increase in luxury tax is simply a punitive measure on top of that,” he says.
He says the tax regime now hits luxury buyers three times during the sale process. Apart from the luxury tax, they also pay more GST by virtue of their car’s higher purchase price.
Then once the sale goes through, they pay a higher percentage of the sale price in stamp duty because the rate is based on a sliding scale, where the tax rate increases in most states at $30,000 and $45,000.
On a Porsche 911 turbo, the GST payable is $25,732, the luxury tax is $51,348 and the stamp duty totals $15,820. Add to that an estimated import duty of more than $20,000 and you come up with a total tax burden that is approaching the cost of a new Porsche Boxster.
The taxes payable on a Toyota LandCruiser would buy a new Toyota Yaris, while the tax on a BMW 5-Series would pay for a Volkswagen Golf.
McKellar says the other injustice is the fact that many cars that were never intended to be caught in the luxury tax net are now affected because the level at which the tax cuts in has not been adjusted in line with inflation.
“There hasn’t been any decent increase in the luxury tax threshold in the past four or five years. It hasn’t kept pace with the changes in the industry. Whatever happened to the good old Aussie notion of a fair go,” he says.
