Interstate Rego Transfer Guide

Moving a vehicle between states is the easy part. Re-registering it is where people lose time and money, usually because they did not know an inspection was required, or they paid stamp duty they did not owe.

There are two completely different situations here, and almost every guide online blurs them together. Work out which one you are in first, because it changes what you pay.

How long you have

The clock generally starts when you establish residency in the new state, not when the vehicle arrives. In most states and territories you have around 14 days. Western Australia is the notable outlier and allows considerably longer.

Driving on interstate plates past the deadline is an offence, and it can also complicate an insurance claim. If your vehicle is arriving after you do, that is normal and fine: just do not let the whole thing drift.

State-by-state requirements

The inspection is the part that varies most, both in what it is called and in how hard it is to pass.

Stamp duty: the bit people get wrong

Stamp duty is a transfer of ownership duty. It is payable to the state you are registering in, calculated on the vehicle’s value or purchase price.

Two things follow from that, and they are worth being clear about:

If you are relocating your own vehicle, you generally do not pay it again

The vehicle is already registered in your name. You are not buying it from anyone. Moving from Melbourne to Sydney with a car you already own is a re-registration, not a transfer of ownership. People routinely assume they are up for thousands here and they are not.

If you bought interstate, there is no penalty for having done so

You pay stamp duty to your destination state: exactly as you would have if you had bought the same car from a dealer down the road. Buying a car in Brisbane and registering it in Adelaide does not attract an extra charge for crossing a border. The duty is the same duty.

CTP insurance, state by state

Compulsory Third Party covers injury to people, not damage to property or vehicles. Every state requires it, and the mechanics differ enough to catch people out:

• NSW is the one to watch. Your Green Slip is bought separately from an insurer before you can register. Turning up to register without one means turning around.
• QLD and ACT include CTP in the registration fee, but you nominate the insurer.
• VIC, SA, WA, TAS and NT bundle it into registration through a single scheme, so there is nothing separate to arrange.

CTP is not comprehensive insurance. It does not cover your vehicle. Arrange your own cover separately, and make sure it is in place for the transport leg as well, although if we are carrying it, our goods-in-transit cover applies while it is on our truck.

Cancelling your old registration

Once the vehicle is registered in the new state, cancel the old registration and return or dispose of the plates as that state requires. You are usually entitled to a pro-rata refund of the unused portion of both registration and CTP.

Nobody sends you a reminder about this. It is genuinely free money that a lot of people leave behind, often a few hundred dollars.

The order to do it in

1. Confirm the inspection type your destination state requires, and roughly what it costs
2. Book the vehicle transport: inspections are easier once the car is physically there
3. On arrival, get the inspection done (Blue Slip, RWC, Safety Certificate, or local equivalent)
4. If you are in NSW, buy your Green Slip
5. Register the vehicle, paying any stamp duty owed
6. Cancel the old registration and claim your refund
7. Update your driver licence, and tell your insurer the garaging address has changed