Australia’s Luxury Car Tax Is Crippling, Pointless Socialism! By Bob Farmer, Dairy Farmer

Australia has a lot of taxes. Some make sense. Some are irritating. And then there's the Luxury Car Tax (LCT) — a relic from the Howard era that punishes working Australians and farmers, cripples industry, and survives only because no major party has the guts to kill it.

First introduced in 2000 as part of the GST package, the LCT slaps a 33% tax on the portion of a vehicle's value above:

$76,950 for fuel-efficient vehicles

$91,387 for all others

This might sound like a rich person's problem — who cares if someone pays a bit more for a BMW or a Tesla? But that's the problem with lazy policy: it doesn't think through the consequences. In reality, this tax clobbers farmers, tradies, rural families, and small business owners, many of whom need capable, durable vehicles to do their jobs — not just to cruise the esplanade.

When "Luxury" Means Livelihood

Here's the reality: try buying a 4WD ute or SUV with towing capacity, off-road clearance, and the safety tech required for modern roads and workplace standards — and try doing it under $91,000.

It's near impossible.

Vehicles like the Toyota LandCruiser 300, Ford F-150, or even a well-equipped Isuzu D-MAX are essential to industries like mining, agriculture, and emergency services. But thanks to the LCT, they get taxed like they're luxury toys for city stockbrokers.

This is not a tax on luxury. It's a tax on utility. It's a punishment for choosing the right tool for the job, simply because that tool costs more than a city hatchback.

The Original Excuse? Long Gone.

The LCT was originally designed to protect Australia's car manufacturing industry — back when we still had one. Holden, Ford, Toyota. They're all gone now. Shut down. Offshored. The rationale is dead.

And yet, the tax lives on. Why?

Because governments — both Labor and Liberal — like the revenue. In 2023 alone, the LCT brought in $1.1 billion. But instead of reforming tax policy to be fairer and more coherent, our politicians cling to this broken system, terrified of being seen as "cutting taxes for the rich."

It's the worst kind of class warfare: symbolic, cynical, and economically damaging.

This is what happens when inner-city elites set policy for a country they don't understand.

They think anything above $90,000 must be a luxury. But in regional Australia, that's often the going price for a vehicle that can haul fencing supplies, tow machinery, or traverse flood-damaged roads. Try doing that in a Prius.

Meanwhile, bureaucrats and politicians themselves are driven around in fleets of high-end vehicles — many of which are exempt from LCT. The double standard is breathtaking.

Enough. Scrap It.

The LCT is:

Redundant: We have no car industry to protect.

Regressive: It punishes workers, not the wealthy.

Inequitable: It hits regional Australians hardest.

Politically cowardly: It exists because no one wants to take a stand.

This isn't about giving the wealthy a break. It's about giving productive Australians a fair go — the people who keep the country running, often far from the cities where this idiocy gets dreamed up. Farmers like me and thousands others.

Scrap the tax. Replace it with nothing. There is no need to "reform" or "modernise" it. Just take it out behind "the shed" and put it down!

Australia's economy, its rural backbone, and its common sense will be better for it.