JDM Import Calculator: Cost to Import a Car from Japan to Australia

Work out what it costs to import a car from Japan to Australia before you bid. Enter the build date, the price in yen and your shipping quote, and the calculator checks the car against the 25-year rule and estimates the duty, GST, luxury car tax and landed cost, with the government source behind each figure.

Can you import the car at all? The 25-year rule

Every road vehicle needs an import approval from the Department of Infrastructure before it comes into Australia, whatever it’s worth. Importing one without approval is an offence, and Border Force won’t release a car that turns up without it. Storage adds up quickly, and the car can be exported or destroyed at your cost.

For most JDM buyers the practical route is age. A passenger car, off-road passenger vehicle, light goods vehicle or motorcycle qualifies as an older vehicle when its build date is at least 25 years before the day the application is submitted. The application fee is $35, plus a $7.20 charge when the car is entered on the Register of Approved Vehicles. The calculator works out whether a car has reached that mark, and if it hasn’t, the month it will. If you only know the build year, it assumes the latest possible month so it doesn’t call a car eligible too early.

Modified cars need care. The department counts the 25 years from the later of the build date and the date of the last significant modification. Its guidance lists an added turbo or supercharger that wasn’t a factory option, a swap to a non-standard engine or gearbox, a full body kit and a left to right hand drive conversion as likely to be significant. Springs, internal engine work and period-style guard flares generally aren’t. A heavily modified 1990s car with recent work may not count as an older vehicle at all, so ask the seller for dates and receipts before you bid.

Cars under 25 years old need a different approval, such as one for a vehicle to be modified by a registered automotive workshop, and most models don’t qualify. The department says to allow up to 60 business days for a decision, so apply well before you plan to ship.

How import duty, GST and luxury car tax are calculated

Border Force works out what you owe when your import declaration is processed, in this order:

1. Customs value. Usually the price you paid, converted to Australian dollars at the official exchange rate on the day the car is exported, plus inland costs before it leaves Japan. Shipping and insurance to Australia aren’t part of it.
2. Customs duty. Free for Japanese-made cars under the trade agreement. Otherwise 5% of the customs value, and that applies to used cars too.
3. GST. 10% of the customs value plus the duty plus shipping and insurance.
4. Luxury car tax. 33% of the amount over the threshold, measured on the total with GST included.

Take a car bought for 2,500,000 yen with 150,000 yen of Japan-side costs, at 100 yen to the dollar and $2,500 for shipping and insurance. The customs value is $26,500. A Japanese-made car pays no duty, so GST is 10% of $29,000, or $2,900, and the car clears customs at $31,900 before any Australian costs. At the 5% rate the duty would be $1,325 and the total about $33,358.

Is there import duty on cars from Japan?

Not if the car was made in Japan. Under the Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement, Japanese originating goods are duty free unless the tariff schedule lists an exception, and cars aren’t on that list. Used cars once were: the agreement originally kept a $12,000 duty on each used passenger vehicle, but those items have since been repealed.

The free rate has to be claimed with an origin certification document. The form can be completed by the importer, the exporter or the producer, so you can fill it in yourself, but you need to be able to show the car was made in Japan. A car built somewhere else, such as a European car bought at a Japanese auction, isn’t Japanese originating and pays the general 5%. The calculator has both rates.

Luxury car tax on imported cars

The luxury car tax threshold for 2026-27 is $80,809 for most cars. A higher $91,661 threshold applies only to cars that use no more than 3.5 litres per 100 km, which rules out petrol performance cars. On an import, the value that’s tested includes the customs value, shipping and insurance, duty and the GST, so a car can cross the line at a lower purchase price than you’d expect.

There’s no exemption for old cars. The ATO’s own worked example applies the tax to a 1977 car. If you’re looking at an R34 GT-R or a clean Supra, check this number before anything else. Our luxury car tax guide explains how the tax works on cars sold here.

Costs the calculator can’t look up for you

Some costs change with every quote, so the calculator asks for your own figures instead of guessing. Border Force lists these as costs to plan for:

• Pre-shipment costs, such as removing asbestos parts and steam cleaning
• Freight and insurance
• Storage and delivery charges
• Customs broker and logistics charges
• Import processing charges
• Wharf and transport charges
• The cost of meeting your state’s registration and insurance requirements

Before you ship: asbestos, air-con gas and biosecurity

• Asbestos. Importing asbestos is banned, and you’re responsible for making sure the car has none before it ships. If Border Force judges the car a risk and you can’t give adequate assurance, it can be held for sampling and testing at your cost.
• Air-conditioning gas. A car with air-conditioning might need an import licence for the refrigerant. Find out the gas type and quantity first.
• Cleanliness. Used vehicles get a full external and internal biosecurity inspection on arrival, and you pay the inspection charges. A contaminated car can be cleaned, exported or destroyed at your expense.
• Stink bug season. Japan isn’t a target risk country for brown marmorated stink bug, so cars don’t need treatment. It is listed as an emerging risk country, which means goods shipped between 1 September and 30 April can be selected for a random inspection.
• Paperwork. Border Force asks for your passport, purchase documents, bill of sale, registration papers, service records and the bill of lading to set the customs value. If you can’t prove the price, it can require an expert valuation that you pay for.
• Registration. An import approval doesn’t guarantee the car meets your state’s registration rules.

Once the car is here, our car modification laws checker shows what your state allows on a modified car.

Sources

Every rule and rate in the calculator comes from these documents, checked in November 2026.

• Department of Infrastructure: Importing a road vehicle into Australia
• Department of Infrastructure guidance note: The effect of significant modifications on older vehicles (section 36, Road Vehicle Standards Rules 2019)
• Department of Infrastructure: RVS legislation fees, charges and payments (May 2023)
• Australian Border Force: Importing a motor vehicle (updated 20 October 2026), with its fact sheets on valuing imported road vehicles
• Australian Border Force: GST and other taxes when importing
• Australian Customs Notice 2026/19: Luxury car tax thresholds for 2026-27
• ATO: Working out the LCT on an import
• Customs Tariff Act 1995, Schedule 3, heading 8703
• Australian Border Force: Current tariff, Schedule 11, Japanese originating goods (operative 1 September 2026)
• DFAT: Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement
• DAFF: Importing motor vehicles, motorcycles, tyres and machinery
• DAFF: Seasonal measures for brown marmorated stink bug

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