4 September 2008

Green vehicle stamp duty - the Liberals finally say no.

| johnboy
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The Canberra Liberals have been largely derelict in their duty to debate the government publicly outside of the Assembly since Zed took over. (Inside the Assembly might count if Assembly hansard saw the light of day within the lifetime of anyone interested, but sadly it does not).

But it’s good to see that after the Government has soaked up un-challenged praise for it’s green vehicle stamp duty scheme CityNews has managed to prise comment out of Vicki Dunne. Who, it turns out, is not a fan.

    “It looks good but it’s green wash. It’s a flawed scheme. Jon Stanhope hasn’t thought this through what-so-ever – it’s a grab for votes from an increasingly desperate government,” Vicki Dunne, Opposition spokesperson for the environment, water, and climate change told “CityNews”.

    “It’s nice for those who can go out and buy a $75,000 Lexus – they’ll get a great discount. But if you are buying a Hi-Lux – the workhorse for the Australian building industry – you won’t get much.”

Far too late to kick up now though, it’s the law.

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VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy2:45 pm 05 Sep 08

Umm, that’s what the Green Car Rating is based on – 50% on fuel consumption and 50% on emission levels.

And how exactly does the Green Rating apply to stamp duty? My assertion was that we should base stamp duty on fuel consumption…

Green house/Air pollution is usually related to engine size.

That’s generally true for normal cars, but with 4WDs and commercial vehicles it doesn’t really hold true. For example, a typical petrol LandCruiser/Patrol has a smaller engine than my V8, but uses substantially more fuel. Using a vehicle’s mass is probably a better indication of fuel consumption.

The cat did it1:45 pm 05 Sep 08

from a first glance at the new rates, the proposal appears designed to be approximately revenue neutral- the higher rate for guzzlers balances out the discount for the more fuel efficient vehicles.

The purest incentive would be to load all transport-related costs onto the fuel, but this mightn’t be popular, so a next-best option is to build an incentive into the various costs, like stamp duty, registration etc. If you’re a subbie who needs a hilux, these costs are tax-deductible (assuming you’re paying tax 🙂 ). Ms Dunne is spouting drivel- again.

Who cares, We pay enough already with petrol, road taxes, stamp duty etc etc.

If the Govt is so worried about green house gas omissions, how about they start turning off all their office lights at night.

Seriously as if this isn’t just another way of applying a new tax to screw people over.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy said :

If we’re serious about this, we would base stamp duty on average fuel consumption according to the Australian Standard testing.

Umm, that’s what the Green Car Rating is based on – 50% on fuel consumption and 50% on emission levels.

One of the other problems with discounting rego is that what is a high rating green car today will be pretty ordinary by tomorrow’s standards. If rego gets dearer as a car gets older there is the incentive to replace the car sooner, which can have a negative environmental impact.

If we’re serious about this, we would base stamp duty on average fuel consumption according to the Australian Standard testing.

Green house/Air pollution is usually related to engine size.

As opposed to the current system, whereby for leased vehicles the rate of FBT reduces as the kilometres increases…

Yep, that’s a right pain in the butt. We have to actively go for long drives (eg interstate) to rack up enough km to avoid paying absurd amounts of tax on our lease car… not exactly in line with trying to save the planet.

aidan said :

It is useless because it is stamp duty and so is only going to affect new purchases (and only if they occur in the ACT .. just go to Queanbeyan to buy the Pajero).

Unfortunately that would require you to actually move to Queanbeyan as NSW require proof of residency to register a vehicle in their state.

If they based the cost of registration on greenhouse gas emissions then it might do some good.

The argument against rego reductions is that it could be regressive as lower income earners generally own older and poorer environmentally performing cars. Lowering the stamp duty doesn’t penalise these people and assists them in buying greener cars when they purchase new ones.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy3:34 pm 04 Sep 08

if I were king I’d be advocating a ‘pay as you drive’ system of car rego instead of this as a way of reducing exhaust emissions; by this I mean your rego is one number per km upto 5000 a larger number per km upto 10000 a larger number per km upto 15000 etc etc

As opposed to the current system, whereby for leased vehicles the rate of FBT reduces as the kilometres increases…

It is useless because it is stamp duty and so is only going to affect new purchases (and only if they occur in the ACT .. just go to Queanbeyan to buy the Pajero).

If they based the cost of registration on greenhouse gas emissions then it might do some good.

if I were king I’d be advocating a ‘pay as you drive’ system of car rego instead of this as a way of reducing exhaust emissions; by this I mean your rego is one number per km upto 5000 a larger number per km upto 10000 a larger number per km upto 15000 etc etc

This would give people an extra incentive to drive less( creating less emissions) while not hitting the hip pocket very hard.

Good to see Vicki has a complete understanding of the scheme – not!

Being in the market for a new car, I did some research on the Green Vehicle Stamp Duty Scheme. Yes you can buy a new Lexus with discounted stamp duty but not just any Lexus, only the Lexus hybrids. Similar limitations apply for Mercedes as well – not every model qualifies for the discount, only some of the 4 and 6 cylinder models. Its interesting to note that the worst rated Mercedes is as good as the best rated Ford or Holden.

An interesting thing is that the legislation is quite generic. It basically allows any duty imposed by the ACT Government to be linked to a third party rating. So stamp duty on houses could easily be linked to energy efficiency ratings or the income tax bracket of the purchaser.

This sort of initiative is exactly what is needed and I cannot understand the lack of support by the Libs.

If all juristictions adopted this measure it would force car manufacturers to produce more efficient cars.

Arnie did something similar in California and it had an immiediate impact.

Hopefully it gets picked up in other States.

And it is not just $75K lexus’, the discount applies to lots of small and family cars including.

VYBerlinaV8_the_one_they_all_copy1:43 pm 04 Sep 08

If you are using your Hilux for business the stamp duty should be deductible anyway. If we’re serious about this, we would base stamp duty on average fuel consumption according to the Australian Standard testing.

amarooresident1:26 pm 04 Sep 08

It’s flawed because Hi-lux drivers can’t get it? Right, thanks Vicki.

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