High court strikes down Victoria’s electric vehicle tax in ruling that could threaten other state levies

The high court ruled that the Victorian government should not have imposed a per-kilometre road user charge for zero- and low-emission vehicles, in a decision likely to affect other state’s plans. Photograph: John Walton/PA

Victoria’s electric vehicle tax has been struck down by the high court in a landmark case likely to bar all state-level road user charges and expose other state levies to challenge.

On Wednesday, a majority of the high court ruled in favour of two electric car drivers who argued that the imposition of a tax by the Victorian government per kilometre ​driven was unconstitutional because the states do not have the power to impose such excise taxes on consumption.