The best time to buy a work ute: December runout, June EOFY, or now?

Most tradies have heard the same advice: buy the ute in June for the tax. For a work ute in 2026–27 that advice is half right at best. The tax deduction doesn’t change between December and June. The price can, and so can the cost of running the old ute in the meantime.

This guide lines up the three windows owners usually weigh (the December runout, June EOFY, or now before a possible 2027 price rise) and shows how to price each one in dollars.

Which window is actually cheapest for a work ute?

Here’s how the three options compare once you take the tax myth out.

	December–January runout	June EOFY	Wait into 2027
Income year for depreciation	2026–27	2026–27	2027–28 if bought after 30 June
Dealer motivation	Clearing 2026-build stock before the new year	Hitting quarterly and annual targets	Normal
Competition for stock	Lower, as many businesses are shut	Highest of the year	Normal
Price risk	Current pricing	Current pricing, unless prices move in the new year	Exposed to any NVES-driven rise
Months of extra use	About six more than June	Baseline	Fewer

June is busy. In June 2026 Australians took delivery of 140,058 new vehicles, the biggest monthly total since 2017, with the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux second and third on the model chart. (CarExpert) When everyone is buying, the popular spec you want is the hardest to find and the easiest for a dealer to hold firm on.

December or June: does June still win on tax?

Not for most work utes. Two ATO rules explain why.

The ute probably costs more than $20,000. The instant asset write-off lets eligible businesses with turnover under $10 million deduct the full cost of an asset under $20,000 in the year it’s first used or installed ready for use. (ATO) A new tray-back or dual cab costs several times that, so it goes into the small business pool: a 15% deduction in the year it’s added, then 30% of the remaining balance in each later year. Our page on the $20,000 instant asset write-off covers the threshold in detail.

The pool doesn’t care which month you buy. The first-year 15% applies whether the ute arrives on 1 July or 30 June. So a December purchase and a June purchase get exactly the same deduction for 2026–27. The only month that changes the answer is July, which pushes the first deduction back a full year. That’s the real June-versus-July question, and our buy in June or July page works through it.

One more tax point that favours utes over cars. The ATO treats a vehicle as a “car” if it’s designed to carry less than one tonne and fewer than nine passengers. Cars are capped at the car limit for depreciation, which is $69,883 for 2026–27, and the GST credit is capped at one-eleventh of that. (ATO) A ute with a designed payload of one tonne or more isn’t a car, so neither cap applies. (ATO — GST on motor vehicles) Payload is GVM less kerb weight, from the compliance plate. Some well-optioned dual cabs come in under a tonne, so check the plate before you sign.

Will ute prices go up in 2027?

There’s a real risk, though nothing is confirmed. Under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, importers must keep their fleet’s average emissions under a yearly limit or pay penalties. For Type 2 vehicles, the class that covers utes and vans, the headline limit is:

Year	Type 2 headline limit (g CO2/km)
2025	210
2026	180
2027	150
2028	122
2029	110

Source: NVES Regulator, Department of Infrastructure

A diesel 4x4 ute sits well above those numbers. Brands either sell more low-emission vehicles to balance them, buy credits from rivals, or pay penalties, and that cost has to land somewhere. Toyota Australia has said the 2027 targets are “really challenging” and hasn’t ruled out lifting ute prices. It plans to push for a softer ute target in the statutory NVES review that’s due to begin in 2026. (carsales)

What that means for you: a price rise from early 2027 is a credible risk, not a certainty. The review could soften the target, and brands may absorb some of the cost to protect market share. Put a modest number on it in your sums, not a scary one.

Runout and plate clearance utes: what’s the catch?

A runout or plate clearance ute is new, unregistered stock built in the outgoing year. Dealers discount it because it will look a year older the moment the calendar flips.

For a work ute you’ll run into the ground, that’s usually a good trade. For a ute you’ll swap every three or four years, check the maths:

• Resale. Buyers and valuers look at the build date. A 2026-build ute sold in 2030 is a four-year-old vehicle, not three.
• Model changes. If a facelift or new generation is due, the runout discount may be the dealer’s way of clearing the old shape. That’s fine if the old one does the job.
• Spec. Runout stock is whatever’s left on the lot. Don’t take a canopy or tray setup you’ll have to pay to change.
• Demo utes. Dealers clear demos at the same time. They can be good value, but the warranty clock has already started.

Ask for the build date in writing and compare the drive-away price with the same spec in next year’s build.

Illustrative example: the plumber with an eight-year-old ute

Illustrative only. Invented business and figures.

A two-person plumbing business runs an eight-year-old dual cab with high kilometres. Over the past six months it has averaged $450 a month in repairs and been off the road about one day a month, costing roughly $900 in jobs pushed back or lost.

The owner has two options:

• Buy in December a runout tray-back at $62,000 drive-away, after a $3,500 runout discount.
• Wait until June for an EOFY deal on the same model, with an expected $2,500 discount.

Both purchases fall in 2026–27, so the tax deduction is the same. Here’s the cost of waiting until June:

Cost of waiting six months	Amount
Repairs on the old ute (6 × $450)	$2,700
Downtime and lost jobs (6 × $900)	$5,400
Smaller discount in June	$1,000
Allowance for a possible price move	$0 (June is still 2026–27 pricing)
Total cost of waiting	$9,100

On the other side: buying in December means about six extra months of finance on roughly $58,000 after the trade-in. In this example that’s around $2,100 in total extra finance cost.

$9,100 against $2,100. December wins by about $7,000, and that’s before counting the risk that the old ute dies on a big job.

Now change one input. If the old ute had been reliable, with no repairs and no downtime, waiting would cost only the $1,000 difference in discount. Against $2,100 of extra finance, June would come out slightly ahead, and holding off longer could make even more sense.

Thinking about a December ute and want to know where the finance would land? See if you qualify here. It takes about a minute, and asking won’t leave a mark on your credit file.

To run your own numbers, put the monthly repairs and lost jobs into the cost-of-waiting calculator as “making do” and lost profit. Our page on the hidden cost of keeping old equipment lists the costs owners tend to forget, like fuel, tyres and the job you lose because you turned up late.

When does waiting win?

The runout isn’t right for everyone. Hold off if:

• The old ute is reliable and paid off. If it isn’t costing you repairs or jobs, the cost of waiting is close to nil.
• December is your cash crunch. If the Christmas shutdown leaves you short in January, protect the cash first. Repayments that start in a dead month can hurt more than a smaller discount.
• The work isn’t locked in. A second ute for a hire you haven’t made, or a contract you haven’t won, is a bet, not a purchase.
• The model you actually need is close. If the new generation brings payload, towing or a hybrid option that changes how you work, a few months may be worth the wait.
• You’re buying to save tax. A deduction isn’t a discount. If the ute isn’t needed, June doesn’t fix that.

Our checklist of signs that waiting is smarter applies to vehicles as much as anything else, and buy equipment now or wait uses the same method for other gear.

How to line up a runout purchase without a scramble

Work back from a target pick-up date in the first half of December:

1. Late October. Pull your last six months of repair invoices and note days off the road. That’s your cost of waiting.
2. Early November. Check the payload on any ute you’re considering, and ask your accountant how the pool deduction fits this year’s numbers.
3. Mid November. Get the drive-away price, build date and trade-in value in writing from two or three dealers.
4. Late November. Sort the funding so you can sign on the day the right unit is available. Runout stock goes quickly, and a dealer will hold a car for a buyer who’s ready.
5. Early December. Inspect, sign and pick up before the dealer closes for the break.

Lead times and holding deposits are covered in our supplier lead times guide.

Ready to make the December window work?

A work ute is the one purchase nearly every trade and rural business makes over and over. Getting the timing right once is worth thousands. This year the numbers point most working businesses towards the runout, unless the old ute is still pulling its weight.

If you’re leaning towards December, tell us about the ute you have in mind and what you plan to spend. The enquiry takes about 60 seconds, and there’s no credit check just for asking, so your score stays where it is. We don’t send your details to a pile of lenders, so your phone won’t start ringing off the hook. A real person reads your answers, looks at your trading and the vehicle, and calls you, including to say “run the old one until autumn” if that’s the honest answer. Please fill the form in accurately, with the drive-away price and roughly when you’d like to pick up, so the first option we bring you fits the job.

For reference, unsecured and cash-flow options typically run from $5,000 to $500,000 for trading businesses and are sized on turnover and bank statements. Property-secured loans run from $20,000 to $5,000,000. Past credit issues and ATO debt are looked at case by case.

Check your options →