RV FEATURE
NEW SOUTH WALES
New South Wales is one of the cheapest states
to register a caravan. But it’s the so-called
‘motor vehicle tax’ that will drain the blood from
your face. In fact, New South Wales (along with
the ACT) is the most expensive state in which to
keep a van.
Now, New South Wales will only charge an
annual fee of $65 for actual registration, but the
motor vehicle tax is calculated on the following
bracketing system based on the Tare weight of
the van.
QUEENSLAND
Things start to look more reasonable in the
Sunshine State. In Queensland, the registration
fee is calculated on the caravan’s Aggregate
Trailer Mass (ATM); however, unlike New South
Wales, the registration brackets are much more
generous and, some might say, a little unfair.
Up to 1020kg $106.20
1021kg-4500kg $202.20
To purchase a six-month caravan registration,
the same brackets apply but the cost is over
976kg-1154kg
$239
half of the above figures for each category.
1155kg-1504kg
$276
The Queensland system, however, seems
1505kg-2504kg
$421
unfair. Why, for example, should a van with an
2505kg-2794kg
$663
ATM of, say 2500kg, cost the same to register
2795kg-3054kg
$754
as a van with an ATM of 4500kg? Furthermore,
3055kg-3304kg
$826
is it fair that a difference of 1kg (ATM), which
would amount to a couple of bottles of beer
And don’t forget to add the $65 rego fee to your
packed in the pantry, adds almost $100 to your
motor vehicle tax.
rego bill?
Surely the fees associated with registering a
van in New South Wales acts as a disincentive
to ownership or, at the very least, will encourage
New South Wales van owners to register their
Western Australia adopts a more streamlined
vans interstate.
approach to the registration of all light
I’m not condoning that as, no doubt, it would vehicles, from mobile cranes, to cars and
be frowned upon by certain authorities. But let’s tractors. When it comes to caravans, the fee
get real: the cost to register a heavy tandem-
is a fairly reasonable $5.42 per 100kg (or part
axle caravan in New South Wales is about what thereof) of weight.
it will cost to register a 4WD in Victoria.
This means an ‘average’ caravan with, say, a
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Tare of 2200kg will cost $119.24.
Unquestionably, it’s a fairer system than
Queensland’s as it means caravan owners
with substantially lighter rigs aren’t paying a
disproportionate amount.
gorv.com.au
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