Tesla Model 3 in Australia

[Kilak]

I have to fly from Melbourne to Brisbane to collect mine. The things we do...

Me too!

 

[stuartl]

$3,000 difference purchasing in Qld.

Just remember that the state authorities are able to demand payment of the stamp duty that would have been due in your state had you purchased and registered it appropriately. I'd recommend setting the funds aside for at least twelve months (and especially around the time that you move the registration to your state) to cover that.

There are also rules around how long you're allowed to have an interstate registration when you "move". These rules may not be well enforced, but they are on the books; you could find yourself up for some fun times if you get caught.

I'm not looking to rain on your parade - just noting that if you're going to play those games, you need to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

 

[SaturnV]

Just remember that the state authorities are able to demand payment of the stamp duty that would have been due in your state had you purchased and registered it appropriately. I'd recommend setting the funds aside for at least twelve months (and especially around the time that you move the registration to your state) to cover that.

There are also rules around how long you're allowed to have an interstate registration when you "move". These rules may not be well enforced, but they are on the books; you could find yourself up for some fun times if you get caught.

I'm not looking to rain on your parade - just noting that if you're going to play those games, you need to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

Exactly - and if you're in WA a full vehicle inspection and fees (new or not), transport costs if applicable for you and your car and re-registration fees and plates etc. Be aware!

 

[meowsers]

Just remember that the state authorities are able to demand payment of the stamp duty that would have been due in your state had you purchased and registered it appropriately. I'd recommend setting the funds aside for at least twelve months (and especially around the time that you move the registration to your state) to cover that.

There are also rules around how long you're allowed to have an interstate registration when you "move". These rules may not be well enforced, but they are on the books; you could find yourself up for some fun times if you get caught.

I'm not looking to rain on your parade - just noting that if you're going to play those games, you need to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

This is why it pays to have a company in ACT! Absolutely zero stamp duty. $4300 saved.

 

[maveric74]

Bugger the waiting games. Gone straight to a very reliable source...

 

[1st in Line]

There is one advantage to not ordering yet... not agonising over the stuff that has occupied the previous 20 pages here... seriously people, I get it that it’s exciting, but stalking container ships and wearing out the F5 key?!?!

Sorry Vostok

I awarded you my second ever "Disagree" rating here on TMC - how boring!

I am thinking about going out to Botany and taking pictures of the Cap Capricorn as she enters Botany Bay and is getting unloaded. If it were later confirmed that our Model 3s were indeed shipped on the Cap Capricorn, I could get some of those photos framed and hang them in my "Tesla themed" garage later on...

If it turned out that they did not arrive on the Cap Capricorn on the other hand, I would feel extremely silly and then - but only then - would I start sharing your sentiment ;-)

Even then, there is an argument that stalking container ships that may or may not contain your Model 3 is like Alfred Lord Tennyson famous saying that "'tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all".

What is life without passion?!?

 

[Grenadine]

Just remember that the state authorities are able to demand payment of the stamp duty that would have been due in your state had you purchased and registered it appropriately. I'd recommend setting the funds aside for at least twelve months (and especially around the time that you move the registration to your state) to cover that.

There are also rules around how long you're allowed to have an interstate registration when you "move". These rules may not be well enforced, but they are on the books; you could find yourself up for some fun times if you get caught.

I'm not looking to rain on your parade - just noting that if you're going to play those games, you need to be prepared for the worst case scenario.

I ordered the Tesla when I lived in Qld and I have now moved to Victoria. I still have my house there. It seemed pretty stupid to cancel an order and place it in Victoria when I moved and then lose my place in the queue. I am also taking the opportunity to visit family in Qld as part of the trip. Nothing whatsoever to do with avoiding stamp duty. In fact, I only just found out about the difference. If I go buy some shoes in DFO Gold Coast why would Victoria care?

 

[PJF000]

This is why it pays to have a company in ACT! Absolutely zero stamp duty. $4300 saved.

You don't need an ACT company. You only need to garage it in the ACT.

 

[meowsers]

You don't need an ACT company. You only need to garage it in the ACT.

I know. I said this a while back. The reason for the company is so you don't respond to the nominate a driver request for speeding cameras if the fine would result in a loss of licence. Especially in Victoria.

 

[stuartl]

This is why it pays to have a company in ACT!

That's less dodgy, yes. But even there, if the state authorities are able to demonstrate that the primary place of use of the vehicle is in the state rather than in the ACT, they can still demand payment of the stamp duty. The odds are reasonable that they'll leave you alone because the effort is more than the revenue is worth, mind - but there are still rules they could use to come after you if they really want to.

I ordered the Tesla when I lived in Qld and I have now moved to Victoria. I still have my house there. It seemed pretty stupid to cancel an order and place it in Victoria when I moved and then lose my place in the queue. I am also taking the opportunity to visit family in Qld as part of the trip. Nothing whatsoever to do with avoiding stamp duty. In fact, I only just found out about the difference. If I go buy some shoes in DFO Gold Coast why would Victoria care?

Chapter and verse: Motor vehicle duty exemptions and concessions | State Revenue Office

You get an exemption from stamp duty in Victoria when "Registering a motor vehicle in the name of a person where the vehicle was previously registered in the same name interstate." However, "The Commissioner must be satisfied that the interstate registration was not made for the purpose of avoiding Victorian duty."

If your primary place of residence at the time of first vehicle registration was in Victoria, it doesn't matter why you placed the order originally in Queensland - the argument that will be made (and which will be very difficult to argue against) is that you ordered there to avoid Victorian stamp duty. Bear in mind that the courts have heard all these arguments before - there's a prima facie case that it looks like avoiding stamp duty, and the onus will be on you to prove that it isn't.

Arguing about buying shoes is a complete non sequitur: there are no taxes or charges payable in Victoria on the purchase of shoes, so the comparison is not a reasonable one.

Note: I am not a lawyer. If this stuff is of a serious concern to you, seek proper legal advice rather than hammering it out on an Internet forum. I'm simply noting that there is a potential liability there for you; what you do with that information is entirely up to you. It may well end up to be a non issue.. but at least now you know of the potential for a problem, so you can plan for it in case it becomes a real problem for you.

 

[Nooodle]

I know. I said this a while back. The reason for the company is so you don't respond to the nominate a driver request for speeding cameras if the fine would result in a loss of licence. Especially in Victoria.

Yeah but the fine is $2k in that instance..

I speak from experience

 

[meowsers]

That's less dodgy, yes. But even there, if the state authorities are able to demonstrate that the primary place of use of the vehicle is in the state rather than in the ACT, they can still demand payment of the stamp duty. The odds are reasonable that they'll leave you alone because the effort is more than the revenue is worth, mind - but there are still rules they could use to come after you if they really want to.



Chapter and verse: Motor vehicle duty exemptions and concessions | State Revenue Office

You get an exemption from stamp duty in Victoria when "Registering a motor vehicle in the name of a person where the vehicle was previously registered in the same name interstate." However, "The Commissioner must be satisfied that the interstate registration was not made for the purpose of avoiding Victorian duty."

If your primary place of residence at the time of first vehicle registration was in Victoria, it doesn't matter why you placed the order originally in Queensland - the argument that will be made (and which will be very difficult to argue against) is that you ordered there to avoid Victorian stamp duty. Bear in mind that the courts have heard all these arguments before - there's a prima facie case that it looks like avoiding stamp duty, and the onus will be on you to prove that it isn't.

Arguing about buying shoes is a complete non sequitur: there are no taxes or charges payable in Victoria on the purchase of shoes, so the comparison is not a reasonable one.

Note: I am not a lawyer. If this stuff is of a serious concern to you, seek proper legal advice rather than hammering it out on an Internet forum. I'm simply noting that there is a potential liability there for you; what you do with that information is entirely up to you. It may well end up to be a non issue.. but at least now you know of the potential for a problem, so you can plan for it in case it becomes a real problem for you.

I wonder if the SRO would require you to only pay the difference in duty, I cannot imagine you would be forced to pay duty twice. Wonder about the intricacies of this..

 

[meowsers]

Yeah but the fine is $2k in that instance..

I speak from experience

It's $3304 now . But... still better than losing your licence for a year or 6 months or whatever. You can only do it 3 times a year or the fine goes up to 17k.

I know you could drive at the speed limit. I'm not advocating breaking the law obviously. Just looking at the economics.

Exceeding limit by 25 km/h–29 km/h

$454 fine

3 months suspension

3304-454 = $2850 = $950 a month to be able to drive instead of a suspension.

(The fine simply increases. The company does not pay the original amount)

 

[Nooodle]

Wow I didn

It's $3304 now . But... still better than losing your licence for a year or 6 months or whatever. You can only do it 3 times a year or the fine goes up to 17k.

I know you could drive at the speed limit. I'm not advocating breaking the law obviously. Just looking at the economics.

Exceeding limit by 25 km/h–29 km/h

$454 fine

3 months suspension

3304-454 = $2850 = $950 a month to be able to drive instead of a suspension.

(The fine simply increases. The company does not pay the original amount)

Wow I didn't realise that! True though, my business would come to a halt if I couldn't drive!

 

[stuartl]

I wonder if the SRO would require you to only pay the difference in duty, I cannot imagine you would be forced to pay duty twice. Wonder about the intricacies of this..

That's a fair question, and it's at this point that I'm going to have to bow out. I simply don't know. I suspect a fair part of it would depend on whether they decided it was a wilful avoidance or merely inadvertent, but that's a pure guess.

Me... I'm just buying it in the state of Victoria and paying (somewhat begrudgingly) the $3k in LCT and $3.7k in stamp duty. It's a complete cash grab on the part of the government - I can't see how that much money for stamp duty can be justified (and the rationale for the luxury car tax is long since gone) - but... yeah. Sigh.

 

[Zsik3115]

That's a fair question, and it's at this point that I'm going to have to bow out. I simply don't know. I suspect a fair part of it would depend on whether they decided it was a wilful avoidance or merely inadvertent, but that's a pure guess.

Buy SR PLUS, AVOID LCT. EASY.
Me... I'm just buying it in the state of Victoria and paying (somewhat begrudgingly) the $3k in LCT and $3.7k in stamp duty. It's a complete cash grab on the part of the government - I can't see how that much money for stamp duty can be justified (and the rationale for the luxury car tax is long since gone) - but... yeah. Sigh.

 

[maveric74]

That's a fair question, and it's at this point that I'm going to have to bow out. I simply don't know. I suspect a fair part of it would depend on whether they decided it was a wilful avoidance or merely inadvertent, but that's a pure guess.

Me... I'm just buying it in the state of Victoria and paying (somewhat begrudgingly) the $3k in LCT and $3.7k in stamp duty. It's a complete cash grab on the part of the government - I can't see how that much money for stamp duty can be justified (and the rationale for the luxury car tax is long since gone) - but... yeah. Sigh.

In Victoria as well..Here is the breakdown of the taxes as per the order agreement. It states LCT as $374? Is this correct seeing as you mentioned $3K in your post above.

 

[TMacinAus]

That's a fair question, and it's at this point that I'm going to have to bow out. I simply don't know. I suspect a fair part of it would depend on whether they decided it was a wilful avoidance or merely inadvertent, but that's a pure guess.

Me... I'm just buying it in the state of Victoria and paying (somewhat begrudgingly) the $3k in LCT and $3.7k in stamp duty. It's a complete cash grab on the part of the government - I can't see how that much money for stamp duty can be justified (and the rationale for the luxury car tax is long since gone) - but... yeah. Sigh.

The LCT does not apply to the M3 in Victoria as far as I am aware, although the stamp duty is bad enough.

In the developed world they pay out tax credits or other incentives to encourage EV purchases

 

[stuartl]

In Victoria as well..Here is the breakdown of the taxes as per the order agreement. It states LCT as $374? Is this correct seeing as you mentioned $3K in your post above.

The LCT does not apply to the M3 in Victoria as far as I am aware, although the stamp duty is bad enough.

It depends on which car you ordered. Standard range plus? No (or maybe minimal, depending on options) LCT. LR AWD (or, for the early buyers, the Performance Minus)? $3k LCT.

Guess which one I ordered. Le sigh.

In other news, I submitted my trade-in self evaluation last night. Uploaded the photos to some storage I have available to me. This morning, at 9am on the dot, somebody accessed the URL in question and looked at (probably copied) all the photos except the tyre tread depth photos.

That was a lot faster than I expected, although they haven't got back to me with an estimate. (I'd expect that to take a bit longer, though, in fairness.) Current plan is to see what Tesla offers, see what I get for an instant offer from Car Sales, and I'll also have a look at Sell Car for Cash in Melbourne - Old & Used Car Buyers to see if that's an option as well (recommended by a friend). I don't really want to deal with private buyers, for various reasons - even if it does cost me a couple of thousand in the changeover price. (A 2012 Honda Jazz won't get me that much in any case.)

 

[maveric74]

The LCT does not apply to the M3 in Victoria as far as I am aware, although the stamp duty is bad enough.

In the developed world they pay out tax credits or other incentives to encourage EV purchases

Agree 100% here regarding incentives. At the end of the day, we are all waiting for our cars to be delivered because there is ZERO incentive for Elon/Tesla to export to this market when we have no incentives for manufacturers or for customers who adopt EV's as a mode of every day transport vehicle. The better half consults to the Federal government on innovation technology and her committee just can't seem to get the ministers to understand that they need to offer incentives to investors and creators in this field. Meanwhile, every smart bastard from Oz is heading to the USUK/Europe and taking their talents and technology nous with them..

Oh and glad the LCT doesn't apply in Victoria! Ordered the SR+. Don't care about the performance bit. Too old to be drag racing at the lights with a baby strapped in the back