Luxury Car Tax (LCT) Increase - How Do You Feel?

[PaulRozza]

Well, the 'new' government has decided to hit those of us fortunate enough (read: those of us that work our asses off to be in a position) to afford a 'luxury car'. As one of many that have preordered an R36 Passat, this is just another few $'000 into the govt's coffers. Anyone else unhappy with this?

[Vene]

So if the contract is signed, does it still have provision to introduce this tax?

[RhysQ]

Well, the 'new' government has decided to hit those of us fortunate enough (read: those of us that work our asses off to be in a position) to afford a 'luxury car'. As one of many that have preordered an R36 Passat, this is just another few $'000 into the govt's coffers. Anyone else unhappy with this?

the tax is for cars over $57,000...correct? i had a look in the paper at a schedule of the taxes for random different car prices. for a $67,000 car (ford territory as per The Bulletin) the tax difference from current is $500. i'm pretty sure if you can afford a $67,000 car you can afford the extra $500.

as for a $309,000 car (porsche as per The Bulletin), the tax difference from current is $15,000. once again, if you can afford a car worth that, $15,000 would be bread crumbs.

final one, a $100,000 car, the tax rise is from $8,000 to $10,500.....not really that much.

the one thing however, i don't agree with, is the price at which the luxury car tax starts. since when is a $57,000 car a luxury car. i don't consider a toyota landcruiser a luxury car.....do you?

it should be up around $70,000 - $75,000.

Cheers,
Rhys

[Cro]

I'm quite annoyed as I work bloody hard to get the things I want.
All the extra $$$ I'll be paying will be going to some slacker who is happy on 50k a year or less for the rest of their life and that gives me the ****s.
This government seems to punish people for working hard and wanting to advance their careers.

[STV4SYT]

Th unfortunate thing is that there is now going to be a lot of cars with lower specs to fit under the $57k limit. it is way too low, most decent spec people carriers fit this, so are they the underprivileged family with 9 kids will have to pay luxury car tax to ferry their family around???

[Vene]

Agree entirely........besides we're having to pay GST, LCT and stamp duty!!! A triple tax (with overlap) just to buy a CAR! (not to mention the worse of them all - income tax), and the government is wondering why there is a steady stream of skilled workers leaving the country.

[OilBurna]

good old krudd govt... sign of things to come. First alcohol taxes now this.

old chinese proverb taxing the rich does not help the poor.

whatabout the family that needs a 7 seat vehicle ie a Tarago at 65k.. Why not tax watches, boats, helicopters etc over a certain amount instead etc. They ued crap examples ie Jag S Type vs more normal every day type vehicles. At least Mr Bracks gave me some money back when I bought mine by cutting the stamp duty in Vic.

[Wolves1877]

Just shows how stupid Labour are. If you increase the price of luxury items, it creates a greater void between cheaper priced products. This then encourages the manufacturers of the lower priced products to increase their prices, whilst still retaining the same price differential as before the increase in LCT.

So in the end, all cars go up in price and that further adds to inflation... the very thing Robin Hood is supposed to be trying to reduce.

[R36 Dreamer]

good old krudd govt... sign of things to come. First alcohol taxes now this.

old chinese proverb taxing the rich does not help the poor.

whatabout the family that needs a 7 seat vehicle ie a Tarago at 65k.. Why not tax watches, boats, helicopters etc over a certain amount instead etc. They ued crap examples ie Jag S Type vs more normal every day type vehicles. At least Mr Bracks gave me some money back when I bought mine by cutting the stamp duty in Vic.

I like the fact the example Swanny used is of a superseded model - the SType is being replaced by the XF, if it hasn't already.

At the end of the day it is only a couple of hundred bucks in R36 land, but it will be interesting to see whether exotics get a bucketload of pre-orders to try and get in prior to the new tax rate (if that will work).

[OilBurna]

yes price of the GTR just went up.... damm

[richdave]

the one thing however, i don't agree with, is the price at which the luxury car tax starts. since when is a $57,000 car a luxury car. i don't consider a toyota landcruiser a luxury car.....do you?

it should be up around $70,000 - $75,000.

I agree that the rate cuts in too early. What we need is true tax reform but NONE of the pollies, left or right, have the balls to do it.

Tax law should be simple.

Earn money = pay tax

Make it flat rate so it is equitable across the board, Apart from say a $10k taxfree threshold, NO exemptions, write off, refunds, just a simple LOWER flat rate. No need to do tax returns....

While ya'll are bagging Rudd, remember that Howard did not have the balls to abolish negative gearing which is welfare for the rich by stealth. How much of your hard earned paid in tax goes to subsidise the guy across the roads rental?

[richdave]

i don't consider a toyota landcruiser a luxury car.....do you?

Luxury - NO, CRAP - Yes...

[gareth_oau]

While ya'll are bagging Rudd, remember that Howard did not have the balls to abolish negative gearing which is welfare for the rich by stealth. How much of your hard earned paid in tax goes to subsidise the guy across the roads rental?

Tax changes arent that simple.

have you ever rented a house?

With no negative gearing in place, why would people buy rental properties?thered be a lot less rental properties available, and those available would cost a whole lot more to rent.

its not about how big somebody's balls are, its about keeping a lot of people happy (which is never easy)

(ps, i dont and ive never had any negative geared properties, just expersssing an objective viewpoint!)

[edoom]

I think readers from this forum are being hit the hardest by the new LCT. The cars we discuss and buy here are not really that luxury... -- if you like, right on the threshold.

As for me ( I am sure similar to a lot of people here), I work very hard, earns decent salary, however all cash goes to bills and 2 investment properties, so I can only afford something cost around 65-80K. If one say, oh, 600 dollars difference is not much, no no mate, to me, that's quite a bit.

It may just be me, but I absolutely resent those yobos who on welfare and contribute virtually nothing to the society and Mr. Swan labelled them as hard working families?

To me, you are what you can make it. I have no sympathy for those who whinge on Trash Tonight about their house being repossessed because they blow all their savings before saving up; signed up for a subprime loan AND didn’t read the fine print.

[VW Convert]

While ya'll are bagging Rudd, remember that Howard did not have the balls to abolish negative gearing which is welfare for the rich by stealth. How much of your hard earned paid in tax goes to subsidise the guy across the roads rental?

Getting off topic here but........I seem to recall this was abolished during the Hawke years and guess what happened.........investors pulled out of the housing market in droves leaving a drastic shortage of rental accommodation.

I have 2 investment properties which I am subsidising hand over fist at the moment, if negative gearing was abolished I would have no choice but to sell them (almost without doubt at a loss). Even with negative gearing residential property at the moment is a dubious investment, without it, it is a certain loss maker. It would be unlikely that an investor would buy so those houses would be lost to the rental market which already has an extremely low vacancy rate.

Oh and don't forget, if I do make a profit from selling a negatively geared property CGT comes into play.

As far as LCT is concerned this government's idea of a luxury car is grossly out of kilter, threshold should be a fair bit higher to take every day cars out of the equation.

Cheers

George