The advertised price of a performance car is not what you pay. Everyone knows that. What almost nobody can tell you before they sign is how much more, and the answer depends heavily on which state you register the car in.
So we ran the numbers. One car, $300,000 before on-road costs, petrol V8, registered in each state and territory in turn.
Luxury Car Tax comes first
Luxury Car Tax is federal, so it does not care where you live. It applies above a threshold, and for the 2026 to 2027 financial year those thresholds are:
- $80,809 for most cars
- $91,661 for fuel efficient cars, meaning 3.5 litres per 100km or better
- $120,000 for zero emission cars
The tax is 33 per cent, but not of the whole price. It applies to the amount above the threshold, and then only to ten elevenths of that amount, because the GST portion is excluded.
On our $300,000 petrol V8, that comes to $65,757.
Read that again, because it is the part people underestimate. Before you have paid a cent of state tax or registration, the federal government has added nearly sixty six thousand dollars to a three hundred thousand dollar car.
We have covered how the threshold works in more detail, including the electric car threshold that catches a lot of people out, in our Luxury Car Tax guide.
Then stamp duty, and this is where your postcode matters
Stamp duty is a state tax, and the states have never agreed on how to charge it. Same car, same price, eight different answers.
| State or territory | Stamp duty on a $300,000 car |
|---|---|
| Victoria | $27,000 |
| Western Australia | $19,500 |
| Queensland | $18,000 |
| New South Wales | $14,100 |
| Australian Capital Territory | $13,590 |
| Tasmania | $12,000 |
| South Australia | $11,940 |
| Northern Territory | $9,000 |
The spread is $18,000. On the same car.
A buyer in Victoria pays three times what a buyer in the Northern Territory pays, for an identical vehicle at an identical price. Nothing about the car changes. Only the address on the registration.
Why Victoria and Queensland are so different
Victoria charges a flat percentage on the whole value once you cross into the top bracket, and the top bracket rate is high. There is no tapering and no relief above it, so expensive cars are hit hard and evenly.
Queensland does something different again. It charges by engine, not just by price. A car with seven or more cylinders, which is most V8s, V10s and V12s, pays a higher rate than a four or six cylinder car of the same value. Buy a $300,000 V8 and a $300,000 six cylinder in Queensland and the six will cost you less to register.
That is worth knowing before you choose between, say, a V8 and a turbocharged six in the same price bracket.
Two numbers we are not certain about
We would rather flag this than quietly publish it.
South Australia. The structure we have used is a fixed sixty dollars plus four per cent of the amount above three thousand dollars. That is corroborated by two independent sources, but RevenueSA’s own page blocked us from checking it directly, twice. Treat the South Australian figure as high confidence rather than confirmed.
The ACT. This is the bigger gap. Real ACT duty is not a simple percentage. It is based on the car’s emissions category as well as its price, with separate treatment above $45,000, and new rates are due from February 2027. Our figure models the highest emissions category, which is where most performance cars land, but ACT buyers should check their specific vehicle rather than rely on the number above.
Everything else in that table has been checked against the relevant revenue office directly.
The total, and what it means
Take the worst case. A $300,000 petrol V8, registered in Victoria:
- List price: $300,000
- Luxury Car Tax: $65,757
- Stamp duty: $27,000
That is $92,757 in tax alone, before registration, before insurance, before you have driven it.
The same car in the Northern Territory carries $74,757. Still a very large number, but eighteen thousand dollars less large.
None of this is a reason not to buy the car. It is a reason to know the real figure before you commit to it, rather than discovering it at the contract stage. We have covered the ongoing side of the equation, servicing, tyres, insurance and the rest, in the true cost of owning a supercar in Australia.
Figures in this article are for the 2026 to 2027 financial year and were calculated in August 2026. Thresholds change every July, and state rates change on their own schedules, so check the current numbers before you rely on them.
Where this came from
Every changeable figure above, what it was checked against, and when.
Figures are correct as at the dates shown. We re-check cars on sale every three months and tax thresholds every July. How we check our facts.
Side-by-side specs, Australian pricing and performance figures for every exotic and luxury car we cover.