The new Financial Year sees a re-indexation of Australia’s very dodgy Luxury Car Tax (LCT).
We say ‘dodgy’ because if Australia is going to have a ‘Luxury Tax’ regime why is it restricted exclusively to new cars and doesn’t include the whole range of so-called ‘luxury goods’?
Because as things stand, with no evidence to the contrary, it is very easy to form the point of view that this burdensome tax is yet another greedy Government sting for new car buyers )already the kost taxed species in Australia).
So, for anyone in the car industry the LCT will remain ‘dodgy’ until someone bold in the bureaucracy steps-up and slugs the billionaires LCT on private jets and Superyachts just for starters.
Anyway Audi and BMW are doing the right thing and have announced the LCT reductions effective from 1 July will be passed-on in full to new buyers.
The LCT threshold is indexed annually according to a factor determined by Federal Parliament, however the pollies rushed out of Canberra to warmer Northern Hemisphere climates for their winter ‘recess’ without determining the figure - so the scrooge bureaucrats in Canberra handed-down a 2.1 per-cent shift according to the All Group Consumer Price Index’ which amounts to a saving of $390 for all Audi and BMW customers buying a car with an RRP above the threshold of $63,184.
“The concession isn’t a huge sum of money, however we are not in favour of any tax that penalizes luxury vehicle owners any more than buyers of other luxury items, therefore we are very pleased to pass along any form of LCT reduction to our customers,” explained Audi Australia boss Andrew Doyle.
