Toyota and Lexus reduce pricing on models affected by Luxury Car Tax

Growing in-line with inflation, the LCT threshold rose by $948 last week to $64,312, while the threshold on vehicles listing fuel consumption below 7.0L/100km increased by $151 to $75,526. In both cases, LCT is imposed at a rate of 33 per cent on the amount above the threshold.

Effective from July 1, a number of Toyota's SUV models, along with the Tarago people-mover, have had their list prices reduced by nearly $300.

Those changes include a $284 reduction on the list price of the entire LandCruiser 200 Series range, along with four Prado models, the all-wheel-drive Kluger Grande, and the Tarago Ultima V6. The 2WD Kluger Grande also benefits from a $267 cut to bring it below the threshold.

As with Toyota, Lexus has reduced list prices on all vehicles in its line-up by the amount affected by the increase in the LCT threshold, effective as of July 1.

Reductions range from $45 to $284, affecting all model lines except for the small CT200h hatch.

The announcement brought with it renewed calls from Toyota to abolish the luxury car tax, which was established to in part to protect a local vehicle manufacturing industry that is now winding down.

"This is an inequitable tax because it applies only to vehicles and not to other high-end goods such as luxury boats, jewellery and watches," Toyota Australia marketing and sales chief Tony Cramb said.

"It is unfair that such a discriminatory tax hits consumers who are already contributing significantly to government coffers through GST, stamp duty and registration fees when buying a new car, as well as hefty taxes on fuel.

"Last year, more than 13,500 new Toyota owners were hit by this inefficient, punitive and poorly designed measure."

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