Car finance when you're self-employed in Brisbane
South East Queensland runs on sole traders and small trade businesses, and the finance system is still built around payslips. Being self-employed is not a problem in itself. Proving your income the way a lender wants it is where applications actually come unstuck.
Want to know what you qualify for? The enquiry takes about a minute and there's no credit check to find out.
Get my quotesThe problem is evidence, not income
A PAYG employee hands over two payslips and the assessment moves on. A sole trader hands over a tax return that was deliberately, legally, written down to reduce tax — and the lender reads the taxable income figure at the bottom, not the money that actually moved through the business.
This is the single most common reason a comfortable, profitable tradie gets a smaller approval than an employee earning less. Your accountant did their job well, and it cost you borrowing power. Nobody warns you about the trade-off until you apply.
Some lenders will add back specific items — depreciation, one-off expenses, sometimes a portion of vehicle costs — to get closer to real cash flow. Which add-backs are accepted varies by lender, and it is worth asking rather than assuming the taxable figure is final.
What can stand in for payslips
Depending on the lender and how long you have been trading, some combination of these usually does the work:
- Two years of tax returns and notices of assessment — the strongest position, and it opens the widest panel
- One year of returns, which a decent number of lenders now accept
- Business bank statements, commonly six to twelve months, read for consistency rather than peaks
- BAS statements, if you are GST registered
- An accountant's letter, which some lenders accept as supporting evidence but rarely on its own
Low-doc, and what it actually costs
If the documents genuinely are not there — a newer ABN, a recent restructure, a year that does not represent the business — low-doc assessment exists. You self-declare income and the lender leans harder on other signals: how long you have traded, your credit file, your deposit, the vehicle itself.
It is a legitimate route and it is more expensive. The lender is carrying more uncertainty and prices for it. Worth doing if you need the vehicle now to keep earning; worth waiting a few months for if your next return is about to land and would tell a much better story.
Common questions
How long do I need to have had my ABN?
Two years opens the most options. Twelve months is workable with a number of lenders. Under twelve months narrows things considerably, though it is not automatically a no — particularly if you were doing the same work as an employee immediately before, which many lenders will consider as continuity of income.
My tax return shows very little income. Can I still borrow?
Often, yes. This is the standard self-employed situation rather than an unusual one. Some lenders will add back depreciation and certain expenses; others assess from business bank statements instead of the return. The answer depends heavily on which lender sees the file, which is the part we handle.
Do I need to be GST registered?
No. GST registration gives you BAS statements as another evidence option, which helps, but plenty of sole traders under the threshold get finance without it.
Related
See what you qualify for in Brisbane
Nine quick questions. No credit check to enquire, no obligation.
Get my quotes