Fuel tax credits - keeping records and calculating eligible quantities

Copies of this publication

Note that the information below is not included in the Portable Document Format (PDF) version of this document. Fuel Tax Ruling FTR 2008/1 Fuel tax: vehicle's travel on a public road that is incidental to the vehicle's main use and the road user charge is being reviewed following a recent court/tribunal decision. For information about: the decision, refer to the Decision impact statement Linfox Australia Pty Ltd and Commissioner for Taxation (2011/1053) correcting previous fuel tax credit claims affected by the above decision, refer to Fuel tax credits - correction of credits relating to the road user charge for certain fuel uses in heavy vehicles.

You can download a printable version of Fuel tax credits - keeping records and calculating eligible quantities (NAT 15230, 693KB) in Portable Document Format (PDF).

About this guide

This guide explains what records you need to keep and how you can work out your eligible quantity of fuel when you claim fuel tax credits.

The records you currently keep for your business will generally be enough to support your fuel tax credit claims if they show you:

• acquired the fuel and the date you acquired it
• used the fuel in your business
• applied the correct fuel tax credit rate when calculating your claim.

Fuel tax credits provide businesses with a credit for the fuel tax (excise or customs duty) included in the price of fuel they use in machinery, plant, equipment and heavy vehicles for business purposes.

From 1 July 2012, fuel tax credit rates are changing. You may be affected by one or more of the following rate changes: increase in the rate from 19.0715 cents per litre for taxable liquid fuels (eg, petrol and diesel) used in some off-road business activities (eg, construction, mining) carbon charge which reduces the rates for some fuel types and activities (excluding specified agriculture, fishing and forestry and road transport activities and non-combustible fuel use) decrease in the rate for heavy vehicles for travelling on public roads changes in the rates for some gaseous fuels changes in the rates for some blended liquid fuels. For more information about these changes, refer to Fuel tax credits - changes from 1 July 2012.

You cannot claim fuel tax credits for:

• aviation fuels
• fuels you use in light vehicles of 4.5 tonne gross vehicle mass (GVM) or less, travelling on a public road
• fuels you acquired but did not use because it was lost, stolen or otherwise disposed of
• some alternative fuels.

If you are a householder and you generate electricity for domestic use, you may also be eligible for fuel tax credits.

For more information, refer to Fuel tax credits - domestic electricity generation and non-profit emergency vehicles or vessels (NAT 15621).