Big, black, bling, blocking out the sun and your view of the road. Giant utes: you can’t help but notice them, and that's the idea, of course.
They are not only huge and a risk to safety and the environment, but they are also hugely expensive.
Not only are bike riders and other taxpayers paying for any harm they cause, but we are also helping their owners to pay for the vehicles.
New research from The Australia Institute has shone a spotlight on a loophole that allows these monsters to squirm through the Luxury Car Tax (LCT) provisions.
The result is that the owners get a benefit of an estimated $250 million a year, resulting in an equivalent shortfall in tax revenue that the rest of Australian taxpayers have to cover.
The research paper reveals that the loophole is saving the owners 33% of the purchase price above the standard tax threshold of $85,000. For example, the 2024 Ram 1500 TRX Final Edition (4x4) is priced at $249,950 before on-road costs and avoids more than $50k in tax due to its exemption from Luxury Car Tax.
The vehicles are exempt from the LCT because it does not apply to a "commercial vehicle designed mainly for carrying goods and not passengers”.
The fact that RAMs or Silverados, or several expensive models of the Ranger and HiLux, never carry so much as a single brick in the tray does not matter, they remain luxury-tax free.
The Australia Institute points out that the $250 million in forgone annual revenue is 10 times the federal government's 2025-26 allocation for the Active Transport Fund.
The research paper concludes: "Large vehicles impose considerable costs on society, from their higher carbon emissions and rates of road damage to serious safety concerns.
"The Australian government should ensure that these costs are accounted for by properly taxing and regulating these vehicles, starting with removing the LCT exemption for utes.
“These policies would curb the growth in expensive and damaging vehicles in Australia and limit the use of utes to legitimate commercial purposes rather than personal luxuries.”
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