Luxury car tax increase defeated!!!!!

[RG]

Finally some sense in Canberra. Just heard this on the news.
http://www.news.com.au/business/stor...-31037,00.html

Originally Posted by news.com.au

The Federal Government's luxury car tax increase has been defeated in the Senate.

Family First Senator Steve Fielding has sided with the Coalition to vote down the legislation at the second reading, 34 votes to 33.

The bill was set to be defeated last night, but Coalition senator Sue Boyce failed to show up to cast her vote.

The Opposition moved first thing this morning to have the vote recommitted.

The Government wanted to increase the luxury car tax from 25 per cent to 33 per cent on vehicles worth more than $57,180. The defeat of the bill will cost the Government an estimated $555 million in lost revenue.

Senator Fielding had wanted to exempt farmers and those in the tourism industry who use cars, worth more than the tax threshold of $57,180, as tools of trade.

"I just tend to think that maybe the Rudd Government thinks they can get away with slugging farmers and tourism operators,'' he told ABC Radio today.

"There's no way we can vote for this if they're not looked after.''

Treasurer Wayne Swan today said Senator Fielding's requests had been unreasonable.

"His request simply couldn't be implemented, it would have been a compliance nightmare,'' Mr Swan told ABC Radio before the vote.

"But it's not too late for the Liberal Party to actually demonstrate some economic responsibility in the Senate today.

"Essentially, what the Liberal Party is doing is supporting a tax cut for owners of luxury cars.''

The Australian Greens and independent Nick Xenophon sided with Labor to allow the bill to proceed to its final stage.

Greens leader Bob Brown criticised Senator Fielding for opposing the bill, saying Opposition would prevent any further debate on the issue.

"The Government ... simply doesn't know what Senator Fielding's doing, nor does anyone else in the Senate,'' he told ABC Radio.

"I don't even know if Senator Fielding knows what he's doing.''

Earlier, Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson sought to downplay last night's embarrassing vote, saying everyone made mistakes from time to time.

"Most senators and members (of the lower house) over the period of their parliamentary life unavoidably will miss a division, but the will of the Senate was obvious and I understand the matter will be dealt with again today,'' he told ABC Radio.

"All I can say is she will be there today.''

I for one am glad that this has happened.

[Peuty]

Good stuff, thats one ridiculous tax abolished, now on to the eleventy billion other ridiculous taxes.

[Fev]

Score one for society!

[balthazarr]

Originally Posted by Peuty

Good stuff, thats one ridiculous tax abolished, now on to the eleventy billion other ridiculous taxes.

Abolished? Doubtful... it'll just revert back to 25%.
The Bill was an amendment... if the amendment doesn't pass, then the original stands.

[Wretched]

Common sense prevailed.

Now the next one is the alcopops tax.

[GORDZ]

i'll hate the government until i can get change from a $100 note for a slab of turkey... fuggen rediculous price for premixes now. haven't been out in months

[MONSOON]

The alcopops tax can stay, the thing that really needs to be binned is ALL this climate change garbage(Australia's polution output has little effect in the whole scheme of things), It's just going to cost Australians jobs & money, just to make a few fools in Canberra look better

[BIGJB]

If they revise it they will just find a way to sneek it in to something else.
So does it really make a difference.

[XR06T]

51k hardly gets you a luxury car anymore.. for a big bm or merc your looking at 100+. i think the 51k needs a serious rethink

[HSE2]

I assume people that have recently purchased new cars shall receive a rebate?

[irlewy86]

Originally Posted by HSE2

I assume people that have recently purchased new cars shall receive a rebate?

Thats what (might) happen if the alcopop tax is defeated. So I don't see why it wouldn't happen for LCT.

On a side note the Alcohol Industry group said they would refuse the $100 million dollars if it is defeated, which kinda shocked me.

[Fev]

I thought it was removed already because my local dan murphies is still charging basicly the same prices...

ie:
6 pack of bundy/lime used to be $17-18. then when the tax was all in the news they went up to $26 a 6 pack. Now they are down to $19.. kinda confusing..

[gcg2503]

The $57k has only moved a couple of grand in the last 10 years

I remember it as $55,134 about a decade ago

IMO it needs to kick in much higher

[Tles]

Originally Posted by gcg2503

The $57k has only moved a couple of grand in the last 10 years

I remember it as $55,134 about a decade ago

IMO it needs to kick in much higher

Bracket creep at it's finest. LCT used to only affect 4% of vehicles sales, it is now over 12.5%, well it was until the sales of luxury cars tanked this last month by over 20% and yes that included FPVs and HSVs which should probably all fit below a LCT threshold if you were to ask me, more content less tax. So the Government loses a estimated 555 million potential tax bonus, isn't that just just the same as increasing income tax for those who have worked hard enough to buy a nice car. Put the tax up if you must, but on cars over 75 or 80,000 thousand, at least people will think twice before buying a 325 for GT money.
Or make a intermediate level without all the big jumps. Say 25% - 33,000, 27.5% <60,000, 30%<75,000, 33%>75 or 27.5 upto 60,000 then add x dollars per $1000 upto 33% max. KISS principle, make it easy to understand and comply.
It's sort of like the 20% v 11% FBT for driving under 25,000kms, inappropriate and seemingly designed to catch out the average punter who drives 17-18,000k per year, while rewarding those who live further away from work - and then they say they care about the environment. WTF gobbledygook

[balthazarr]

Originally Posted by gcg2503

The $57k has only moved a couple of grand in the last 10 years

I remember it as $55,134 about a decade ago

IMO it needs to kick in much higher

IMHO, it needs to be abolished.

I buy a $60,000 car, and I'm liable for LCT.

I buy a $60,000 Rolex, and no luxury tax of any kind. :

Originally Posted by Fev

I thought it was removed already because my local dan murphies is still charging basicly the same prices...

ie:
6 pack of bundy/lime used to be $17-18. then when the tax was all in the news they went up to $26 a 6 pack. Now they are down to $19.. kinda confusing..

Probably because no-one buys Dry + Limes, especially not for $26 a 6 pack. The reason I always take em to parties, no-one scabs your drinks.

[ebxr8240]

Originally Posted by Shounak

Probably because no-one buys Dry + Limes, especially not for $26 a 6 pack. The reason I always take em to parties, no-one scabs your drinks.

I bet you take your [chilli bin] Esky with you ???
Lol..

[gcg2503]

Originally Posted by balthazarr

IMHO, it needs to be abolished.

I buy a $60,000 car, and I'm liable for LCT.

I buy a $60,000 Rolex, and no luxury tax of any kind. :

Not much revenue to be derived from taxing Rolexes

But you have to be buying a pretty special rolex to pass even $40k!

Perhaps a Solid Golid Rolex Day Date with presidential diamond bracelet and diamond encrusted dial ........

[uranium_death]

Are locally produced vehicles subject to luxury car tax?

If so, the government should support local industry and abolish it.

I am happy to see Mercedes and Beamers etc. taxed to hell.
There are perfectly good local options, such as the G6E.

[HSE2]

Originally Posted by uranium_death

Are locally produced vehicles subject to luxury car tax?

If so, the government should support local industry and abolish it.

I am happy to see Mercedes and Beamers etc. taxed to hell.
There are perfectly good local options, such as the G6E.

Yes they are and yes there has been a suggestion to exempt the local industry.

[3vXT]

Originally Posted by gcg2503

But you have to be buying a pretty special rolex to pass even $40k!

[Auslandau]

GST already takes care of the extra tax on higher priced cars and I hate this double tax dipping and the "The rich can afford it" mentallity ...... $57K isn't nessesarily rich anymore.

Don't forget with plain old GST
Buy a $20,000 new car and you pay $2,000 in tax.
Buy for $200,000 and you are paying $20,000 in tax PLUS LCT.

Parliment saying that the libs are supporting the rich Porsche & Ferrari drivers ..... if I can buy one for $57,000 I would. This price is more middle class now than a luxury.

Originally Posted by HSE2

I assume people that have recently purchased new cars shall receive a rebate?

THe tax was to be payed later and back dated to July ..... so no one has paid the extra yet.



| [/url] |

[pauljh74]

The threshold is too low for today's cars. It should be $70k plus. Also the LCT is already 2.5 times the tax on "non-luxury" vehicles. The GST was supposed to replace all sorts of taxes, but many still remain. There is a place for an LCT, but to increase it to 33% is excessive.

[balthazarr]

Originally Posted by gcg2503

Not much revenue to be derived from taxing Rolexes

But you have to be buying a pretty special rolex to pass even $40k!

Perhaps a Solid Golid Rolex Day Date with presidential diamond bracelet and diamond encrusted dial ........

I'm not against a luxury tax... if anything, I think it should be applied more evenly across the board, call it, say LGST - Luxury Goods & Services Tax. The average, middle-class Aussie is already taxed up the ying-yang, why not shift more of the burden to those truly able to afford it?

Instead of 10%, it might be 15%, or 20%, and it would apply to all sorts of luxury goods, not just "luxury" cars.

Sure, my Rolex example may have been a little extreme, but it makes my point. How about a $60,000 diamond ring, a $250,000 yacht (can you even buy a yacht for $250k?), or any number of true luxury items?

A car is not a luxury, it's virtually a necessity. Tax the true luxury cars, if you must, but $57k is not luxury.

And don't get me going on Stamp Duty... tax on a tax? : Why does the 'dutiable value' include LCT & GST? That's crap.

At least LCT is calculated on the GST-exclusive value of the vehicle.

[gcg2503]

Originally Posted by ken2903

See what happens when you don't wear a Rolex - your watch is stuck on 12:25!

Totally against the LCT at its current level - its obscene. Wasn't it originally brought in to "protect" local manufacturers against the "luxury" imports????

The amount we get shafted in Oz compared to the UK on car pricing is obscene

At the higher end the differential is enormous

[LTDHO]

Rich get richer!

I do agree that imported luxo cars should get tax.

[ltd]

The tax grab was nothing more than trying to gouge consumers, fantastic that it was defeated. People need to remember, that there has already been several tax hikes since December 07; Diesel excise went up 2cpl and yet no great fuss was made about it, alcopops went up, tobacco and alcohol taxes went up; on top of the plethora of state taxes and charges which went up such as registration costs, water, electricity, gas, rates, application fees etc. We have inflation running at close to 5% and in order to stave off a recession we have cut interest rates 0.25%. We are in a bit of a mess as unemployment is increasing substantially (builders especially), and businesses are holding off on investment for fear of the looming recession.
Additionally, at the firm I used to work for a mate of mine has informed me of their inundation with those who receive any form of subsidy from the government being investigated over the previous 5 years and case files being conveniently lost if there is an error in assessment. This is being done to put the burden of proof back on the recipient which is difficult, many are heading straight to arbitration. This is a friendly warning to all those who receive anything from the government, you may be audited too.
Now, this isn't meant to be political but I just have a problem with governments trying to create a massive surplus similar to a companies profitability; governments are meant to provide services yet are sitting on 22 billion and are on a revenue drive to increase even that. Meanwhile, nothing is done with infrastructure and nothing but spin doctoring and media manipulation is taking place. Further, the global warming crap has reached the highest office in the land, and the PM has fallen for it completely. We as a nation should be very worried.

[Full Noise]

Originally Posted by ltd

Edited to save space.

I hear ya, and absolutely agree. Also, very worried about the future.

[sleekism]

Your all a bunch of a$$.holes!!

Do you know what the revenue from the tax was for?? INCREASING THE MEDICARE THRESHOLD!!!

I'm glad what keeps people up at night is tax cuts for the rich! The most expesive car in the Ford range the FPV F6X will see an increase from about 75k to 77k

[balthazarr]

Originally Posted by sleekism

Your all a bunch of a$$.holes!!

Do you know what the revenue from the tax was for?? INCREASING THE MEDICARE THRESHOLD!!!

I'm glad what keeps people up at night is tax cuts for the rich! The most expesive car in the Ford range the FPV F6X will see an increase from about 75k to 77k

Oh yeah, because yachts, rolex watches and expensive jewellery - all of which do not attract any form of additional tax - are bought by the average punter.

As others have mentioned $57k includes some people movers and other family cars... maybe you should read the posts before abusing people indiscriminately.