Excise refunds, drawbacks and remissions on fuel

Claim a refund

You can claim a refund of excise duty you have paid on goods delivered into the Australian domestic market in certain situations. Examples include duty paid goods:

• returned to licensed premises for further manufacture
• where the duty was paid by mistake.

There is a 12-month time limit for lodging most refund claims, including when duty has been paid in error. You can contact us to ask about timeframes.

Any refund you receive is assessable income for income tax purposes. You will need to include it in your tax return.

To claim a refund, refer to Excise refund or drawback.

If your application is approved, we will issue a refund into your nominated bank account.

You must keep detailed records to substantiate your claims and help you meet your tax obligations. This is a legal requirement.

For further guidance, see Excise guidelines for the fuel industry – section 7 Remissions, Refunds, Drawbacks & Exemptions.

Claim a drawback

You can claim a drawback of the excise duty you have paid (either directly or in the purchase price) on goods that you subsequently exported.

A drawback claim must be lodged within 12 months from the day after the goods are exported and must be at least $50.

Any drawback you receive is assessable income for income tax purposes. You will need to include it in your tax return.

To claim a drawback, refer to Excise refund or drawback. If your application is approved, we will issue a refund into your nominated bank account.

You must keep detailed records to substantiate your claims and help you meet your tax obligations. This is a legal requirement.

For further guidance, see Excise guidelines for the fuel industry – section 7 Remissions, Refunds, Drawbacks & Exemptions.

Claim a remission

You may be able to apply for a remission (waiver) for the excise duty you would have had to pay for your goods if:

• your goods can't be delivered into the Australian domestic market, and
• you haven't paid the excise duty for them.

This means you won't have to pay any excise duty for these goods.

If you hold an excise manufacturer licence, excise storage licence or periodic settlement permission (PSP), you can supply some excisable goods, duty unpaid, to certain purchasers. The goods you supply will effectively be excise-free as you get an automatic remission of the excise duty.

Excisable goods you can claim a remission for

You can claim a remission for excisable goods that haven't been delivered into the Australian domestic market because either they:

• deteriorated
• are damaged, lost or destroyed while they are underbond.

For further guidance, see Excise guidelines for the fuel industry – section 7 Remissions, Refunds, Drawbacks & Exemptions.

How to claim a remission

Refer to Excise remission to apply for a remission (and permission to destroy excisable goods) .

Destroying excisable goods subject to remission

Off-site destruction of excisable goods requires a movement permission from us. However, where you indicate off-site destruction in your remission application, we will give permission to move the goods off-site as part of the remission approval.

You must keep detailed records of the goods you destroy. We may ask to see these records.

Remission for transport LPG and LNG

A full automatic remission of excise duty applies to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) you supply for non-transport use only. You don’t need to complete a remission application if a full automatic remission applies.

An automatic remission does not apply to LPG or LNG when:

• you supply LPG or LNG for mixed use (both transport and non-transport) and the LPG or LNG is delivered into one tank
• the end use of the LPG or LNG is unknown at the time of supply.

If you supply LPG or LNG duty unpaid on the basis that an automatic remission of the duty applies (that is, the goods are for non-transport use), you must have a reasonable expectation that the goods will not be used as a transport fuel.

Penalties can apply to both the supplier and end-user if LPG or LNG was supplied with an automatic remission of the duty but used as a transport fuel.

If you are supplying LPG with an automatic remission of the duty, you should include the following notice on your invoices:

'Not to be used, or supplied, for transport use. Penalties apply.'

The notice is not required when you supply the LPG in containers 210 kilograms or less, or to a residential premises and is not-for-business use.

Supplying excisable fuel products under an automatic remission

If you hold an excise manufacturer licence, excise storage licence or periodic settlement permission (PSP), you can supply some excisable fuel products, duty unpaid, to certain purchasers. The goods you supply will effectively be excise-free as you get an automatic remission of the excise duty.

Make sure you understand when you can supply excisable goods duty unpaid, including who to and the associated restrictions and requirements.

You must keep detailed records of the goods you supply excise duty unpaid.

Who you can supply excise duty unpaid goods to

You can supply excise duty unpaid goods to the following purchasers:

• the Governor-General or any member of the Governor-General’s family, if the goods are for official use
• state governors or any member of a state governor’s family, if the goods are for official use
• certain international organisations specified in the law, or officials of those organisations, if the goods are not for the purposes of trade
• the government of another country under an agreement between that government and the Australian Government, if the goods are for official use and not for the purposes of trade
• people covered by a Status of Forces Agreement, if the goods are for official use
• official use by diplomatic missions and consular posts, and personal use of certain people working for those organisations
• people who get liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) for non-transport use, including use in a forklift.

What you need to do

If you supply goods excise duty unpaid in the situations described above, you're entitled to an automatic remission or refund of excise duty on those goods.

However, you must also ensure that the end user is entitled to receive the goods excise duty unpaid under an automatic remission or refund. You can do this by ensuring you follow the requirements for:

• Official stationery
• Periodic settlement permission.

Official stationery

Each order you receive must be on official stationery.

This includes the Governor-General, state governors, certain international organisations, the government of a country other than Australia, and those covered by a Status of Forces Agreement. Orders must include confirmation that the goods are for official use.

Orders from diplomatic missions and consular posts must indicate whether the goods are for official or personal use.

See more information in Excise guidelines for the fuel industry – section 7 Remissions, Refunds, Drawbacks & Exemptions. This includes the full list of who you can supply excisable goods duty unpaid to, what you need to do, and records you need to keep.

Periodic settlement permission

A periodic settlement permission (PSP) allows you to deliver excisable goods into the Australian domestic market (for home consumption) over a specified period (settlement period).

In some circumstances you need to hold a PSP to supply goods under automatic remission. You don't need to report these sales unless we ask you to.

You don't need approval from us before you release goods subject to automatic remission. You therefore don't have to:

• enter these goods on an excise return or
• apply for an excise remission.

For more information, see Permissions to move excisable fuel and petroleum products.

How to claim a refund, drawback or remission on excisable fuel and petroleum based products.