The High Court ruling on the landmark case against the electric vehicle road tax in Victoria – dubbed the “world’s worst EV policy” – is expected to be delivered next Wednesday.
Chris Vanderstock, an EV owner and YouTuber who took the case to the High Court with engineering consultant Kathleen Davies, wrote on Twitter/X on Thursday that he had been advised High Court ruling on Victoria’s EV tax will be delivered on Wednesday, October 18, at 9.45am.
“My advice, if you have a declaration notice from VicRoads or must pay on or just after this date, wait until the judgement is handed down,” he wrote.
The case, launched in September 2021Â is hugely significant, and – as The Driven reported last year – tests two burning issues:
The first is the fight by EV owners to stop the road tax in its tracks, at least by the states. The second is the turf war between state and federal governments over who gets to impose a road user tax once the current fuel excise disappears with petrol and diesel cars.
The Victoria EV road tax started in July 2021 with a toll of 2.5c/km for battery electric vehicles, and 2.0c/km for plug in hybrids. They have since risen with inflation (2.8c/km for battery EVs).
But the introduction of the tax has been chaotic and deemed unfair by EV advocates and motoring groups. It resulted in at least 240 EVs losing their registration for filing to report their odometer readings.
The NSW and South Australia governments also plan an EV road tax – in the NSW case from 2027 after it joined Victoria in dropping its EV rebates and other incentives.
EV advocates argue that the imposition of the EV road tax by states is arbitrary and unfair, and unconstitutional – although most accept it will happen eventually as EVs gain a bigger share of the market and replace fossil fuelled-cars.
They have been supported on the constitutionality of the issue by the federal government, which wants to retain control of any revenues raised and cites section 90 of the constitution, which says that only the federal government can impose customs, excise and bounties.
Victoria has been supported by all other states, fearing they could be stripped of revenue sources.
