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Same with cars, only the workaround is expensive or impossible. For example take a brand new Subaru wrx:

US starts at $25,795 Australia starts at $44,377

In both cases the car needs to be imported and also falls under Australia's luxury car tax so the comparison is reasonably fair. The more expensive a car is the worse it gets (a Nissan gtr will set you back 170k+).

Sure a little bit of this is first world problems, still annoying though.

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We've got some companies in Holland that take care of that problem. You buy the car abroad and have the companies strip them and replace luxery items with standard stuff. Car goes to customs, the price is estimated and a tax is paid. Car gets assembled with all the good stuff. (Most profitable for cars that are 1 year old). Tried to do this with a Harley davidson bike from NY to Holland. Failed because you really need someone on the other end (buyer you can trust).

Actually, a WRX won't have the luxury car tax applied to it; from Wiki: The LCT threshold is currently $59,133.00AUD. Car pricing in Australia is pretty horrific, which is probably due to both taxation and the government trying to protect local manufacturers.

You are quite right. I meant to say underneath the lct threshold. Thanks for clearing that up

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