Ute tax breaks cost taxpayers "significantly more" than EV incentives, says Polestar

Polestar Australia’s managing director has taken another swipe at the Federal Government and those who oppose EV incentives, arguing tax breaks for commercial vehicles like dual-cab utes cost the taxpayer “significantly more money”. Speaking with CarExpert, Polestar Cars Australia managing director Scott Maynard said it’s “really disappointing” that the government is reviewing Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) breaks for EV buyers, arguing it goes against the government’s goals of reducing private transport emissions. “We need continued support to encourage the purchase of [electric] vehicles, and I don’t see that any differently to the huge amount of support that’s billed to the taxpayer for the uptake of, for example, light commercials, which would be costing the government, and consequently the taxpayer, significantly more money than the electric vehicle scheme is,” said Mr Maynard. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal. “It’s really disappointing that the government and Treasury are reviewing the FBT scheme [for EVs], not on the success of the scheme but the cost of the scheme, and it seems somewhat incongruous with the result. “The government has stated goals for take-up of electric vehicles, and we’re still short of those goals. We’re heading in the right direction, but we’re not there, and it seems like an inopportune time to take their foot off the ‘gas’ and start to reduce the support to Australian consumers that want to move to a zero-emission vehicle. “It’s in the government’s best interest, in the interest of its stated goals, to continue that support. And to reduce it for cost reasons, just doesn’t seem right – so we are campaigning heavily to see the FBT incentive to electric car buyers maintained,” Mr Maynard continued. “Similarly, the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) and the FBT support work hand-in-hand. The NVES scheme has worked beautifully in encouraging manufacturers to bring more electrified alternatives to Australian drivers. “We are now seeing manufacturers draw on their international catalogue of vehicles to be able to make more choice available, and we see now almost 150 electrified models on sale in Australia, which is vastly different to the landscape and choice that drivers had even 6-12 months ago.” Mr Maynard’s latest comments come after he said last month “this is not the time to change the settings that they’ve got on the FBT relief for electric vehicles” following the Australian Government announcing last December it will review its EV subsidy scheme. “The government’s published goal is to see 50 per cent of the market buying electric vehicles by 2035. They’re nowhere near that, and they’re not tracking towards that,” he said. Instead, Mr Maynard has called on the government to address sales incentives for combustion vehicles such as diesel-powered dual-cab utes, which can qualify for FBT exemptions if the vehicles provided to staff by employers are used only for “limited private use”. As such, drivers are required to keep accurate records to prove their work ute isn’t used “as the family taxi” or “for weekend personal trips” – according to the Australian Taxation Office – in order to be eligible for FBT exemption. “We all accept that electric vehicles present Australian drivers now with sufficient choice, a lower running cost, and vehicles that are fun to drive and easy to own, and we all accept that there’s tangible and measurable health benefits to the cleaner air that they will provide us,” Mr Maynard said last month. “Yet we don’t think twice about the billions of dollars the government is sinking into the sale of dual-cab utes to the point where now we’re selling one and a half times the [number of] utes than we have tradespeople. “We’re selling these things with an FBT subsidy of prices in excess of $200,000. That would seem to me to be a much easier win than going after a corner of the market that’s doing good things and not enough of them.” Commercial vehicles such as dual-cab utes are also not subject to Luxury Car Tax (LCT) like much of Polestar’s electric vehicle lineup, which applies a 33 per cent tax for every dollar spent over the defined luxury car price threshold. ‘Fuel-efficient cars’ by government definition are subject to a higher threshold – currently $91,397 versus $80,567 for non-‘fuel-efficient cars’ – and this definition was recently revised to refer to a vehicle that uses less than 3.5L/100km of fuel on the combined test cycle. As recently as the 2022-23 financial year, the Instant Asset Write-Off scheme allowed businesses to claim new commercial vehicles up to the value of $150,000 for both new and used vehicles. That was recently reduced to $20,000 as part of the 2023-25 Budget. In 2025, light commercial vehicles accounted for 273,229 deliveries in Australia, with EVs accounting for 103,270 new registrations. EV market share was 8.3 per cent for all new vehicles in 2025, up from 7.4 per cent in 2024. The growth in EV and PHEV sales has been attributed to – at least partly – government incentives like FBT breaks for novated leases. Still, current market share is well off the government’s goal of 50 per cent in nine years’ time. Let us know your thoughts in the comments! MORE: Explore the Polestar showroom