Tax and incentive figures current as of September 2026
Thresholds, rebates and rules on this page change each financial year. We check them against each state and territory revenue office; High Court of Australia (Vanderstock v Victoria), but always confirm the current position with the relevant authority before you sign. The major state EV purchase incentives have all ended. Concessions change often, so confirm your state's current position with its revenue office before budgeting.
The honest 2026 answer is that the EV incentive era in the states is mostly over. The rebates and stamp duty exemptions that made headlines from 2021 to 2024 have nearly all closed, and the one genuinely big saving left is federal. Here is where things actually stand, with the end dates, because plenty of older articles (including an earlier version of this one) still describe schemes that no longer exist.
What Has Ended, and When
| Scheme | What it was | Status |
|---|---|---|
| NSW stamp duty exemption | No stamp duty on EVs and PHEVs under $78,000 | Ended 1 Jan 2024 |
| QLD $6,000 rebate | Cash rebate on EVs under $68,000 | Closed 2 Sep 2024 |
| ACT stamp duty exemption | Zero stamp duty on new zero-emissions vehicles | Ended 1 Sep 2025 |
| VIC road user charge | 2.8c/km charge on EVs (a cost, not an incentive) | Struck down Oct 2023 |
End dates per each scheme's own revenue office announcement. The Victorian charge was ruled unconstitutional by the High Court in Vanderstock v Victoria, October 2023.
No, There Is No EV Road Tax
This one refuses to die, so let's be direct: no Australian state currently charges EV drivers a per-kilometre road user charge. Victoria tried, and the High Court struck the charge down in October 2023 on constitutional grounds. Canberra has talked about a national replacement ever since, and nothing has been legislated. If a future scheme becomes law we will update this page the same week; until then, any article telling you to budget $400-600 a year for an EV road charge is describing a tax that does not exist.
The One Big Incentive Left: the Federal FBT Exemption
The saving that still moves the needle applies everywhere in Australia. If your employer offers novated leasing, an eligible battery EV under the luxury car tax threshold for fuel-efficient vehicles is exempt from Fringe Benefits Tax, which is typically worth thousands per year depending on your salary and the car. Two catches worth knowing: plug-in hybrids lost this exemption for new leases from 1 April 2025, and the car must sit under the LCT fuel-efficient threshold. Read our full FBT exempt cars guide for the current thresholds and the maths.
What Might Still Be Available Locally
Some states and territories retain smaller concessions, mostly around registration, and they change without much fanfare. Rather than publish a table that goes stale, the honest advice is: check your own revenue office directly before you budget. The official sources are Revenue NSW, the Victorian SRO, QLD Treasury, RevenueSA, RevenueWA, the Tasmanian SRO, ACT Revenue Office and the NT Government. Five minutes on the right website beats any secondhand summary, including ours.
Things to Keep in Mind
- State incentives change frequently and mostly in one direction lately: closed. Always check the current rules on your state revenue office website before buying.
- The federal FBT exemption is usually worth far more than any state scheme ever was, but it only works through a novated lease and only for battery EVs under the LCT fuel-efficient threshold.
- If you see a current article promising a state cash rebate, check its date. Every state cash rebate scheme had closed by late 2024.