Free tool · waiting for both evidence sets
Machinery Buy vs Hire Calculator
A defensible breakeven needs a published hire rate and a verified market price. HeavyBook will not substitute a modelled used estimate for the missing market side.
This tool needs both a live hire rate and a live price guide behind it, and one side hasn't cleared our data-density gate yet. See what's live on the hire rates hub and the current model guides.
Hire side: published-market median day rates with source counts. Buy side: live market typical prices. Ownership costs use our editable methodology assumptions. Estimates only, not financial advice.
Do you pay duty on a used machine?
It depends on where you register it, and the answer is not the same in any two states. Duty is a cost of buying that a hire rate never charges you.
- Queensland Checked 27 July 2026
A flat $25 applies to conditionally registered “special vehicles”, which Queensland lists as including forklifts, tractors and graders — the same amount whether the machine is light or heavy, regardless of its value.
- South Australia Checked 27 July 2026
Exempt. Vehicles conditionally registered under section 25 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1959 are exempt from stamp duty on an application to register or to transfer registration; documentary evidence is given to Service SA.
- Western Australia Checked 27 July 2026
Heavy vehicles over 4.5 tonnes gross vehicle mass attract 3% of dutiable value, capped at $12,000 — the cap biting once value reaches $400,000. Concessions may reduce this further for eligible plant, so confirm your machine’s class.
- New South Wales Not confirmed
We have not been able to confirm this one against the issuing authority, so we are not going to guess at it. Check directly before you budget.
- Victoria Not confirmed
We have not been able to confirm this one against the issuing authority, so we are not going to guess at it. Check directly before you budget.
State Revenue Office Victoria — motor vehicle duty exemptions
- Tasmania Not confirmed
We have not been able to confirm this one against the issuing authority, so we are not going to guess at it. Check directly before you budget.
Worth correcting: A widely repeated claim is that New South Wales caps heavy-vehicle duty at $12,000. That cap belongs to Western Australia, not New South Wales — check the Revenue NSW figure for your own purchase rather than the one the broker sites quote.
No figures held for Northern Territory or Australian Capital Territory.
Duty depends on how the machine is registered, what it weighs and what you use it for, and the rules change. This is general information, not tax or legal advice — confirm with your state revenue office before you budget for it.