Loading calculator…
What you pay depends on the state, the vehicle and its emissions, and the spread is wide — from a full exemption on some electric vehicles to several thousand dollars on a luxury car. Work out the duty on your purchase below.
Looking for the cost of your annual rego instead? That is a separate, recurring charge, roughly $585–$1,494 a year depending on the state and the vehicle — jump to annual registration and CTP costs, published per state for the 5 jurisdictions that publish a current figure.
For a new car: the price you paid including GST (and LCT if any). For a used car: what you paid, including GST — unless you are buying below market value, such as from a relative or as a gift, in which case duty is charged on the market value instead. What counts as the value
Stamp duty payable
$1,350
3.00% of the vehicle's value
Vehicle classifications, dutiable value and any concession can change the result. Check Service NSW duty checker before paying.
This is the recurring bill to keep a car on the road, not the stamp duty above. Figures are 12-month private-use amounts transcribed from each authority’s own published schedule, for an ordinary light passenger car without concessions.
5 of the 8 jurisdictions publish a single annual figure that already includes compulsory injury insurance. The other 3 do not, because the injury premium is set by competing insurers or the schedule is not published as a table — for those we show the published components and link the official estimator rather than guess a total.
| State | Annual cost | What it covers | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Not published as one figure | the Green Slip half of a NSW rego bill is set by competing insurers, not by a published schedule | NSW Government — vehicle registration feesRead 13 August 2026 |
| VIC | $825–$959 | One renewal fee that already includes the TAC charge, priced by the risk zone the car is kept in | VicRoads — vehicle feesApplies from 1 July 2026 (TAC component) |
| QLD | $782–$1,494 | A registration fee set by cylinders, plus a $67.25 traffic improvement fee, plus Class 1 CTP | Queensland Government — registration costsApplies from 1 July 2026 |
| WA | Not published as one figure | WA publishes the licence rate and the insurance premium but not an assembled annual total, and the tare rounding and duty treatment needed to build one are not stated | Transport WA — vehicle licence feesApplies from 2026/2027 fee year |
| SA | $585–$1,025 | An approximate 12-month total that already includes a CTP estimate, priced by cylinders and by metro or country | SA.GOV.AU — vehicle registration feesApplies from 1 July 2026 |
| TAS | $619–$804 | One renewal fee by cylinders that already includes the MAIB premium | Transport Tasmania — registration feesApplies from 1 July 2026 |
| ACT | Not published as one figure | the ACT prices registration on tailpipe emissions and publishes the schedule through its calculator and a legislative determination rather than a fee table, and the only worked examples on its emissions page are labelled 2025-26 | Access Canberra — emissions-based registrationRead 13 August 2026 |
| NT | $792–$1,029 | One 12-month fee by engine capacity that already includes MAC compulsory third party cover | NT.GOV.AU — registration feesApplies from 2026 fee schedule |
Each range spans the classes that jurisdiction publishes, and those classes are not the same from state to state — Queensland’s runs from 1 to 12 cylinders while Victoria’s runs across three risk zones. Compare the class that matches your car in the breakdown below, not the ranges against each other.
| Published component | Amount |
|---|---|
| Registration fee (all vehicles) | $84 |
| Vehicle tax — tare up to 970 kg | $278 |
| Vehicle tax — tare 971 to 1,150 kg | $322 |
| Vehicle tax — tare 1,151 to 1,500 kg | $391 |
| Vehicle tax — tare 1,501 to 2,500 kg | $596 |
| Vehicle tax — tare 2,501 to 2,790 kg | $860 |
| Vehicle tax — tare 2,791 to 3,050 kg | $977 |
Green Slip: A CTP Green Slip is bought from a competing insurer and priced on your vehicle, postcode and driving record, so NSW publishes no single annual total. Compare real quotes on the SIRA Green Slip Price Check.
SIRA Green Slip Price Check — for the exact amount on your own vehicle.
Buying a used car costs you three separate things, and this is the third: the stamp duty above, the annual registration to keep it on the road, and a one-off transfer fee to put the registration in your name. In an ordinary private sale it is charged on top of the duty, never included in it — though several states waive one or both for a deceased estate or a transfer to a spouse, noted per state below.
Every jurisdiction gives the buyer 14 days to lodge the transfer. In WA the seller gets only 7. Missing the deadline is the expensive part: in NSW the fee goes from $42 to $193.
| State | Transfer fee | Lodged late | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| WA | $20.50 | Penalties apply, amount not published | Transport WA — light vehicle licence fees 2026/2027Applies from 2026/2027 fee schedule (page updated 29 June 2026) |
| NT | $22 | No late transfer fee published | NT.GOV.AU — registration feesRead 16 August 2026 |
| SA | $33 | $141 | SA.GOV.AU — vehicle registration feesApplies from 1 July 2026 |
| QLD | $33.65 | No late transfer fee published | Queensland Government — registration costsApplies from 1 July 2026 |
| TAS | $35.28 | No late transfer fee published | Transport Tasmania — registration feesRead 16 August 2026 |
| NSW | $42 | $193 | NSW Government — vehicle registration feesRead 16 August 2026 |
| VIC | $47.50 | No late transfer fee published | VicRoads — transfer fees and exemptionsRead 16 August 2026 |
| ACT | $51.70 | $191.20 | Access Canberra — transferring vehicle registration feesApplies from 1 July 2026 |
Lodging late: NSW does not add a penalty — it publishes a different, much higher fee for a transfer lodged after 14 days. The $151 difference is not published as a penalty anywhere, so it is not shown as one.
NSW also states that vehicle tax, registration charges and stamp duty may apply on top of this fee.
For a typical $45,000 petrol car, Tasmania, the NT, NSW and SA all land near $1,350–$1,800 (3–4%), WA's sliding scale reaches about 5.75%, and Victoria is the most expensive mainstream state at $8.40 per $200 (4.2%) — rising to 9% for cars over $150,000. Queensland and the ACT use vehicle-specific categories, so compare the applicable official schedule rather than treating an EV rate as a universal concession.
Queensland is the one state that prices vehicle registration duty by what is under the bonnet rather than by body type. The rate applies per $100 of the dutiable value, and every rate steps up once the car is worth more than $100,000:
| Engine | Up to $100,000 | Over $100,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Hybrid or electric | $2.00 per $100 | $4.00 per $100 |
| 1 to 4 cylinders | $3.00 per $100 | $5.00 per $100 |
| 5 or 6 cylinders | $3.50 per $100 | $5.50 per $100 |
| 7 or more cylinders | $4.00 per $100 | $6.00 per $100 |
Queensland's EV/hybrid category is charged at $2.00 per $100 up to $100,000. The applicable dutiable-value rule is set by Queensland, so check the official rate page and select the vehicle category for an estimate.
Vehicle duty rules vary by jurisdiction and can change. Queensland has a separate EV/hybrid rate, the ACT uses an emissions category and eligible NT BEV/PHEV transfers receive a concession through 30 June 2027. Check the official criteria before relying on any of these settings. If you're packaging an EV through work, the novated lease calculator shows the FBT exemption — usually worth far more than any duty concession.
Stamp duty is not charged on the price on the receipt. It is charged on the dutiable value, and the two are the same thing only in an ordinary arm’s-length sale. Buy a car for less than it is worth — from a parent, from an employer, as a gift, for a nominal dollar — and every state and territory assesses the duty on what the vehicle is worth rather than on the discounted price you paid. Queensland publishes the worked case: an aunt transfers her car to her niece for $6,000 when it is worth $12,000, and the duty is charged on $12,000.
So the figure to enter above is what you paid, unless what you paid is below market value, in which case it is the market value. This is the most common way a duty estimate comes out too low, and it is the reason a family transfer is rarely as cheap as it looks.
Two further points hold in every state and territory. GST is part of the dutiable value — duty is charged on the GST-inclusive figure, not net of it, and luxury car tax counts too. And a trade-in is not deducted: trading a car worth $15,000 against a $40,000 purchase and paying $25,000 in cash means duty on $40,000, because the trade-in allowance counts as part of what you gave for the car.
Beyond that the states genuinely diverge, and the differences are the sort that turn on your exact transaction — whether dealer delivery is included, how a new car with a published list price is treated, which family relationships are exempt. Queensland, for one, exempts a genuine gift with no money changing hands at all to a spouse, parent, grandparent, child, stepchild or grandchild, but not a gift between siblings, between in-laws, or from an aunt or uncle. A sale at any price is not a gift and is not exempt, even between spouses. Check Service NSW duty checker before you rely on a figure for anything other than an ordinary sale.
Three separate costs: stamp duty is a one-off state tax when a car is registered or transferred to you; registration is the recurring annual (or quarterly) fee to keep it on the road; CTP insurance covers injuries to people in an accident and is compulsory. Every state collects a compulsory injury premium, but only some fold it into a published annual figure: VIC (TAC charge), QLD (CTP insurance), SA (CTP insurance), TAS (MAIB premium), NT (MAC cover) do, which is why those 5 can be quoted as a single number above. In NSW, WA, ACT the premium sits outside the published total — a Green Slip and an ACT MAI policy are bought from competing insurers, and WA’s Motor Injury Insurance is a fixed government premium that its fee pages list separately from the licence fee. None of these cover damage to the car itself.
Duty schedules verified 5 August 2026 against each revenue office. Confirm the applicable schedule and vehicle classification before settlement.
This calculator is not intended to be relied on for the purposes of making a decision in relation to a financial product. Before you make a financial decision, consider obtaining advice from someone who holds an Australian Financial Services Licence. We do not, and we cannot advise you.
Motor vehicle stamp duty (also called registration or transfer duty) is a state tax paid when a vehicle is first registered in your name — on both new and used cars. The dealer usually handles it for new cars; for private sales you pay it when you transfer the rego.
Each state sets its own scheme: most charge per $100 of value with rates that rise for more expensive cars, Queensland prices by engine type and the ACT by CO₂ emissions.
Dutiable-value rules differ between jurisdictions. Check the official state or territory guidance, particularly for private sales and non-standard transfers.
Roughly: NSW $1,600 (passenger), VIC $2,100, QLD $1,500 (4-cyl) or $1,000 (EV/hybrid), WA $3,250 (6.5%), SA $1,940, TAS $2,000, ACT $1,325–$2,429 depending on emissions under the schedule current to 31 January 2027, NT $1,500. Use the calculator above for the exact figure.
Usually, duty applies when registration transfers to a new owner. The rate and dutiable-value rules vary by state and territory, so check the official guidance for your transfer.
Do not assume an EV is exempt. Queensland has a separate EV/hybrid rate, the ACT uses an emissions schedule and eligible NT BEV/PHEV transfers receive a concession through 30 June 2027. Check the current official state or territory criteria before relying on a concession.
The buyer. For a dealer sale it's included in the drive-away price and remitted by the dealer; for a private sale the buyer pays it when transferring the registration into their name.
The duty treatment of an interstate move depends on the destination jurisdiction and the transfer details. Check the official guidance before re-registering your vehicle.
Registration is a separate recurring cost from the stamp duty above. For a private light passenger car on the current published schedules: VIC $825–$959, QLD $782–$1,494, SA $585–$1,025, TAS $619–$804, NT $792–$1,029. Those figures already include compulsory injury insurance. NSW, WA, ACT publish no single annual figure, because the injury premium is set by competing insurers or the schedule is not published as a table — see the annual registration section above for their published components and official estimators.
Each state page has the published schedule used by this calculator, duty worked out across a range of car prices, the quirk in that state’s formula worth knowing before you buy, and how it compares nationally.
General information only. This calculator estimates vehicle duty for supported passenger and light commercial scenarios. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm the vehicle classification, dutiable value, transfer details and any concession with the relevant state or territory authority.
Estimates only. Not financial or tax advice. Full disclaimer for your rights and our limitations of liability.
This calculator exists to show you the arithmetic. It applies published Australian rates, thresholds and formulas to the numbers you enter and shows the working, so you can check it. That is all it does — it produces a number and describes what the number is. It does not recommend anything and it holds no opinion about any financial product.
What can move this result
This calculator is not intended to be relied on for the purposes of making a decision in relation to a financial product. Before you make a financial decision, consider obtaining advice from someone who holds an Australian Financial Services Licence. We do not, and we cannot advise you.