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, advertised at $300,000 (the price on the windscreen, 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
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.
Advertised prices in Australia already include Luxury Car Tax, so it is not an extra on top. It is a share of the price you see. On our $300,000 petrol V8, the Luxury Car Tax inside that price is $50,583. (The car before the tax is about $249,417, and 33 per cent of ten elevenths of the amount above $80,809 adds the rest.)
Read that again, because it is the part people underestimate. Before you have paid a cent of state tax or registration, more than fifty thousand dollars of a three hundred thousand dollar price is federal tax.
We have covered how the threshold works in more detail, including how the fuel efficient tier works, 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. The figures below are the duty on a $300,000 purchase price, paid on top of that price.
| State or territory | Stamp duty on a $300,000 car |
|---|---|
| Victoria | $27,000 |
| Australian Capital Territory | $22,372 |
| Western Australia | $19,500 |
| Queensland | $18,000 |
| New South Wales | $14,100 |
| 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.
South Australia and the ACT
South Australia. Duty on a non-commercial vehicle worth more than $3,000 is $60 plus $4 for every $100 or part of $100 over $3,000, which makes $11,940 on a $300,000 car (RevenueSA).
The ACT. ACT duty is not a simple percentage. It is based on the car’s emissions category as well as its price, with separate bands at $45,000 and $80,000. For a new car over $80,000 in the highest emissions category (221 grams per kilometre or more, which is where most performance cars land), the rate to 31 January 2027 is $4,772 plus $8 for every $100 above $80,000, which makes $22,372 on a $300,000 car. New rates apply from 1 February 2027, and ACT buyers should check their own vehicle’s category.
The total, and what it means
Take the worst case. A $300,000 petrol V8, registered in Victoria:
- Advertised price: $300,000 (this includes $50,583 of Luxury Car Tax)
- Stamp duty: $27,000
- Total before registration and insurance: $327,000
That is $77,583 of tax inside that $327,000, Luxury Car Tax and stamp duty together, before registration, before insurance, before you have driven it.
The same car in the Northern Territory costs $309,000 and carries $59,583 of tax. 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, as at 25 October 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.