What is a chattel mortgage?

A loan to buy a vehicle or equipment for a business, with a mortgage over the asset as security. The business owns the asset from the start, and a GST-registered business generally claims the GST in the purchase price as a credit for the period it buys the asset.

Why are leases and hire purchase not in the listing?

Most of the hire purchase, lease and rental products in the lenders’ data are priced on application and publish no interest rate, so there is no rate to list. The guide to equipment finance and leasing explains how each works.

Can GST be claimed upfront on hire purchase?

For hire purchase agreements entered into on or after 1 July 2012, a GST-registered business can claim the GST credit upfront rather than as each instalment is paid, whether it accounts for GST on a cash or a non-cash basis.

What is a balloon payment?

A lump sum left owing at the end of the term. It lowers the regular repayments, but interest is charged on it throughout, and it is still owed at the end whatever the asset is then worth.

Compare Equipment Finance

Q: Can business vehicle finance be used for a car that is mostly for personal use?

Business finance is for business purposes. A car bought mainly for personal use is compared on Car Loans.

Equipment finance pays for vehicles, machinery and other business assets, usually with the asset as security, as a loan, a chattel mortgage or a lease. Compare 16 products from 11 lenders below on the published interest rate and the main establishment and ongoing fees, sorted on the interest rate, lowest first, and rates start from 6.49% p.a. with Police Credit Union’s Commercial Vehicle Fixed Loan.

Rates checked against providers’ own published data on 24 Oct 2026

For business use. These products are for business purposes. If you are borrowing or saving for yourself, or for an investment property you own personally, compare Home Loans, Personal Loans and other personal products instead.

	Comparison rate	Establishment fee	Ongoing fee	Actions
Police Credit Union	Interest rate6.49%	Comparison rateNot published	Establishment fee$295	Ongoing feeNot stated	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeFixed 7 years, principal and interest, investment
Queensland Country Bank	Interest rate6.74%	Comparison rateNot published	Establishment fee$150	Ongoing fee$0	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeVariable, principal and interest	Our Business Green Car Loan allows you to purchase any new or demonstrator green vehicle. A 'green' vehicle is defined as one with emissions intensity that does not exceed 120 grams of C02 emissions…
Great Southern Bank Business+	Interest rateFrom 6.79%	Comparison rateNot published	Establishment fee$595	Ongoing fee$8 a month	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeFixed 4 years, principal and interestFeatures: Borrow $1 to $250,000	Keep your business moving with a Business+ Vehicle Loan. A Business+ Vehicle Loan can be used to buy a new and second-hand vehicles up to five years old.
Latitude Personal and Motor Loans	Interest rateFrom 6.99%	Comparison rate8.82%*	Establishment fee$495	Ongoing fee$16.50 a month	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeFixed 1 yearFeatures: Borrow from $10,000	A secured loan available to Sole Traders for purchasing a new or used vehicle for business use only.
Police Credit Union	Interest rate7.38%	Comparison rateNot published	Establishment fee$295	Ongoing feeNot stated	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeVariable, principal and interest, investment
Central West Credit Union	Interest rate7.40%	Comparison rate7.82%*	Establishment fee$150	Ongoing feeNot stated	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeVariable, principal and interest	Loans for Business purposes
Resimac Asset Finance	Interest rate7.54%	Comparison rateNot published	Establishment fee$495	Ongoing fee$4.95 a month	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeFixed 7 years, principal and interestFeatures: Borrow $5,000 to $75,000	Secured finance for passenger vehicles, classic cars and motorbikes. Fixed rate finance with terms from 12 to 84 months.
Southern Cross Credit Union	Interest rate7.60%	Comparison rateNot published	Establishment feeNot stated	Ongoing feeNot stated	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeFixed 5 years, principal and interest	Loan to buy new or demo business vehicle up to 4.5 tonne GVM, $20-150K with vehicle taken as security over the loan.
Southern Cross Credit Union	Interest rate7.60%	Comparison rate9.97%*	Establishment feeFrom $375	Ongoing fee$8 a month	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeFixed 3 years, principal and interestFeatures: Borrow $20,000 to $150,000	Loan to finance the purchase of a new or demo model business vehicle through Motor Scout Car buying service
Central West Credit Union	Interest rate7.70%	Comparison rate7.92%*	Establishment fee$150	Ongoing feeNot stated	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeVariable, principal and interest	Loans for Business purposes
Plenti	Interest rate8.14%	Comparison rateNot published	Establishment feeNot stated	Ongoing feeNot stated	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeFixed 7 years, principal and interestFeatures: Borrow $5,000 to $150,000	A commercial asset finance product for business customers. Offers fixed repayments for the full loan term. Available for the purchase or refinancing of motor vehicles and commercial trucks via…
Liberty Financial	Interest rate8.29%	Comparison rateNot published	Establishment feeNot stated	Ongoing fee$10 a month	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeVariable, principal and interestFeatures: Borrow $5,000 to $100,000	Business car loans
ScotPac Business Finance	Interest rate8.49%	Comparison rateNot published	Establishment feeNot stated	Ongoing feeNot stated	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeFixed 5 years, principal and interest	ScotPac Asset Finance helps fund the vehicles, plant and equipment your business needs to grow and take on new opportunities.
Plenti	Interest rate8.54%	Comparison rateNot published	Establishment feeNot stated	Ongoing feeNot stated	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeFixed 7 years, principal and interestFeatures: Borrow $5,000 to $150,000	A commercial asset finance product for business customers. Allows extra repayments and reamortisation of the loan repayment schedule at any time. Available for the purchase or refinancing of motor…
First Option Bank	Interest rate11.99%	Comparison rate12.25%*	Establishment fee$175	Ongoing feeNot stated	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeFixed 7 years, principal and interest	NEW VEHICLE, 7 YEARS FIXED
First Option Bank	Interest rate11.99%	Comparison rate12.25%*	Establishment fee$175	Ongoing feeNot stated	Equipment, vehicle and asset financeFixed 7 years, principal and interest	USED VEHICLE, FIXED 7 YEARS

What the equipment finance listing covers

Equipment finance is lending built around a specific asset: a ute, a truck, a tractor, a forklift, medical or IT equipment, or a fit-out. The asset is the security, so the rate depends on what it is, its age and how readily it could be resold, as well as on the business. The products on this page are mainly business vehicle, equipment and asset loans, which generally work like a chattel mortgage: the business owns the asset from the start and the lender takes security over it. Some lenders publish separate products for new and used vehicles, and each is listed on its own.

Hire purchase, finance lease, operating lease and rental products appear in the lenders’ data too, but most of them are priced on application and publish no interest rate, so they are not in the listing. Novated leases, which an employee takes out through their salary package, are personal products and are not listed either.

These products are for business purposes. A car bought mainly for personal use is compared on Car Loans instead.

Ownership, GST and the end of the term

The structure decides who owns the asset and how GST is claimed, which is why the structure matters as much as the rate.

Chattel mortgage. The business buys the asset with a loan and owns it from the start. A GST-registered business generally claims the GST in the purchase price as a credit on the activity statement for the period it buys the asset, subject to the limits on cars and the extent of business use.
Commercial hire purchase. The financier owns the asset until the final payment. For agreements entered into on or after 1 July 2012, a GST-registered business can claim the GST credit upfront, whether it accounts for GST on a cash or a non-cash basis.
Leases and rentals. The financier owns the asset, and GST is charged on each payment, so credits are claimed payment by payment.

Under a chattel mortgage or hire purchase, the business is generally treated as holding the asset for tax purposes and claims its decline in value. From 1 July 2026, small businesses with aggregated turnover under $10 million that use the simplified depreciation rules can immediately deduct the business portion of an eligible asset costing less than $20,000, a threshold the ATO describes as permanent. Under a lease the financier holds the asset, and the business generally deducts the lease payments instead, except for a lease of a car costing more than the car limit, which the ATO treats as a notional sale and loan. This is general information only, and an accountant can confirm the treatment for a particular agreement.

Many loans offer a balloon, a lump sum left owing at the end of the term. It lowers the regular repayments, but interest is charged on it for the whole term, and it is still owed at the end whatever the asset is then worth.

How to compare equipment finance

Rates on equipment finance are usually fixed for the term. Each row shows the rate alongside the establishment fee and the ongoing fee, and the rate a lender offers depends on the asset type and age being financed. Whether a balloon is offered or required is set out in the lender’s terms rather than in the listing. A comparison rate is shown where the lender publishes one. Each product’s details add the loan amounts, and the fixed-rate period, where the lender states them.

Early payout terms are rarely in the data. Paying out a fixed rate agreement early can carry a termination fee or a payout figure that recovers some of the lender’s lost interest, so the lender’s own documents are worth reading for that.

The guide to equipment finance and leasing compares chattel mortgages, hire purchase, finance leases, operating leases and novated leases in detail, with a worked balloon example. Larger borrowing is listed on the Business Loans page.

CompareThat is a comparison service, not a lender or broker. This page is general information only, not credit, financial or tax advice, and we do not compare every equipment finance product available in Australia. The lender’s own terms, fees and eligibility criteria set out what it offers.

Glossary

The key terms you’ll meet when comparing these products, reading product disclosures or talking to a provider.

Term	What it means
Chattel mortgage	A loan to buy a vehicle or equipment, secured by a mortgage over it. The business owns the asset from the start.
Commercial hire purchase	An agreement under which the financier owns the asset and hires it to the business until the final payment, when ownership passes.
Finance lease	A lease with a residual value set at the start, which the business owes at the end of the term. It may be able to buy the asset for the residual, or the asset is returned and sold, with any shortfall against the residual paid by the business.
Operating lease	A lease with no residual for the business to pay, where the asset goes back to the financier at the end.
Balloon payment	A lump sum left owing at the end of the term, which lowers the regular repayments but is still owed.
PPSR	The Personal Property Securities Register, where a lender registers its security interest in a vehicle or equipment.
Instant asset write-off	An immediate tax deduction for the business portion of an eligible asset’s cost, available to small businesses using the simplified depreciation rules.

Term

What it means

Chattel mortgage

A loan to buy a vehicle or equipment, secured by a mortgage over it. The business owns the asset from the start.

Commercial hire purchase

An agreement under which the financier owns the asset and hires it to the business until the final payment, when ownership passes.

Finance lease

A lease with a residual value set at the start, which the business owes at the end of the term. It may be able to buy the asset for the residual, or the asset is returned and sold, with any shortfall against the residual paid by the business.

Operating lease

A lease with no residual for the business to pay, where the asset goes back to the financier at the end.

Balloon payment

A lump sum left owing at the end of the term, which lowers the regular repayments but is still owed.

PPSR

The Personal Property Securities Register, where a lender registers its security interest in a vehicle or equipment.

Instant asset write-off

An immediate tax deduction for the business portion of an eligible asset’s cost, available to small businesses using the simplified depreciation rules.

Common questions

Rates and fees are sourced from each provider’s CDR Product Reference Data as of the date shown. They are general information only. Not credit advice. CompareThat is not a credit provider. Payment can change where a product appears, never which products we show.

Compare Equipment Finance

Comparison rate warning

What the equipment finance listing covers

Ownership, GST and the end of the term

How to compare equipment finance

Glossary

Common questions

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