EV Rebates and Novated Leases: What You Can Stack in Each State (2026)

Most people shopping for an electric car in Australia in 2026 have already missed the state cash rebates. Almost all of them have closed. What remains is a thin, uneven layer of stamp-duty and registration concessions, and for anyone using a novated lease, the federal FBT exemption does the real work. This guide covers what still exists in each state, whether it stacks with a novated lease, and the tax mechanics that decide who actually benefits.

For the full picture of how EV novated leasing works, start with our EV novated lease hub. For the exemption itself, see how the EV FBT exemption works.

The short answer

Every state cash purchase rebate has now closed. Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia were the last to go, and all have ended. The schemes were always capped, and most hit their funding limits or scheduled sunset as EV sales climbed, while several states pivoted toward future road-user charges instead of purchase incentives.

What survives is a handful of concessions: a lower vehicle-duty rate in Victoria and Queensland, a small registration discount in Victoria, and a genuine stamp-duty concession in the Northern Territory that runs until 30 June 2027. None of these rivals the federal FBT exemption, which removes fringe benefits tax on an eligible battery EV entirely and is the only incentive that targets a salaried employee directly.

If you are leasing, the order of priority is simple. The FBT exemption is the incentive. Treat any surviving state concession as a minor bonus, not a reason to choose one car over another.

How a state rebate interacts with a novated lease

Three mechanics decide whether a state benefit actually reaches you.

It does not lower the FBT threshold. The FBT exemption requires the car’s GST-inclusive retail price to be under the luxury car tax threshold for fuel-efficient vehicles, which is $91,661 in 2026-27. The ATO assesses this on the retail sale price. A state rebate paid to you after purchase is a separate cash payment, not a discount on the car, so it cannot push a car that is over the threshold under it. And once luxury car tax has ever been payable on a vehicle, the FBT exemption is lost permanently.

The lease company usually receives the concession. Under a novated lease the finance company is the registered operator of the car. A stamp-duty or registration concession applied at registration reduces what the financier pays, and you see it only as a slightly lower lease cost, not as money in your pocket.

Some rebates barred leases outright. Queensland’s rebate guidelines specifically excluded vehicles held through a novated lease. Western Australia’s did the opposite and allowed them. Program design varied, which is one reason a single national rule never existed.

One thing applies regardless of any state benefit: the reportable fringe benefit. Even though an eligible EV is FBT-exempt, its value is still reported on your income statement and counts toward income tests such as the Medicare levy surcharge and HELP repayments. That trap is covered in the EV FBT exemption guide.

State by state in 2026

State	Cash rebate	Duty and registration in 2026	Useful with a novated lease?
NSW	Closed Jan 2024	Standard duty, no concession	No
VIC	Closed 2023	Concessional “green car” duty, $100/yr rego discount	Minor, via the financier
QLD	Closed Sep 2024	Concessional 2% duty band for EVs	Minor, via the financier
WA	Closed May 2025	Standard duty, no concession	No
SA	Closed 2024	Standard duty, free-rego window closed	No
TAS	None active	Standard duty (exemption ended 2023)	No
ACT	None	Emissions-based duty, loan scheme at 3%	No
NT	None	$1,500 duty concession + rego waiver to 30 June 2027	Yes, applies to leased vehicles

New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania have no current EV purchase incentive. Their rebates and duty concessions all closed between 2023 and 2024, and EVs now pay standard duty in each state.

Victoria and Queensland keep a concessional vehicle-duty rate for EVs, and Victoria adds a $100 annual registration discount. These attach to the vehicle, so a leased EV gets them, but the benefit flows to the financier and reaches you as a marginally lower lease cost. Victoria’s per-kilometre road-user charge for EVs was struck down by the High Court in 2023 and no longer applies.

Western Australia closed its $3,500 rebate in May 2025 and offers no duty or registration concession now. A distance-based road-user charge has been legislated for 2027 but is not yet in force.

The Australian Capital Territory ended its stamp-duty exemption in September 2025 and its free-registration offer in 2024, moving to emissions-based duty and registration. Its Sustainable Household Scheme still lends for EVs, but the loan now charges 3% interest rather than being interest-free, and it funds a car you own outright, so it does not work alongside a novated lease.

The Northern Territory has the most useful surviving benefit: a stamp-duty concession that waives duty on the first $50,000 of value, worth up to $1,500, plus a registration-fee waiver. Both run until 30 June 2027 and both apply to leased vehicles.

What this means if you are leasing

Choose the car on its merits and let the FBT exemption do the work. The surviving state concessions are small, mostly flow to the financier, and should not sway which EV you pick. Model the real saving, which comes from the FBT exemption and pre-tax running costs, with our FBT savings calculator, and see the fortnightly impact by income in the novated lease savings by salary guide.

For your state’s full detail, see the dedicated pages for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and the Northern Territory.

The bottom line

State EV rebates were meaningful in 2022 and 2023. In 2026 they have largely gone, and the advice still circulating about stacking them with a novated lease is mostly out of date. The honest position now is that the federal FBT exemption is the EV incentive that matters, the Northern Territory aside. Time your lease around the exemption’s wind-back, not around a state rebate that has probably already closed.

Sources: ATO - Electric cars exemption; ATO - Luxury car tax rate and thresholds; NT Government - registration and stamp duty concessions for electric vehicles. Program status verified as at July 2026.