ATO Interpretative Decision

ATO ID 2005/327 (Withdrawn)

Excise

Energy Grants (Credits) Scheme: on-road credit - vehicle for transporting passengers or goods - grader
FOI status: may be released

This ATO ID is withdrawn from 1 July 2012, the date the Energy Grants (Credits) Scheme Act 2003 was repealed.
Despite its withdrawal, this ATO ID continues to be a precedential ATO view in respect of the period the Act was in force, 1 July 2003 up to and including 30 June 2012.

This document incorporates revisions made since original publication. View its history and amending notices, if applicable.

CAUTION: This is an edited and summarised record of a Tax Office decision. This record is not published as a form of advice. It is being made available for your inspection to meet FOI requirements, because it may be used by an officer in making another decision.

This ATOID provides you with the following level of protection:

If you reasonably apply this decision in good faith to your own circumstances (which are not materially different from those described in the decision), and the decision is later found to be incorrect you will not be liable to pay any penalty or interest. However, you will be required to pay any underpaid tax (or repay any over-claimed credit, grant or benefit), provided the time limits under the law allow it. If you do intend to apply this decision to your own circumstances, you will need to ensure that the relevant provisions referred to in the decision have not been amended or repealed. You may wish to obtain further advice from the Tax Office or from a professional adviser.

Issue

Is a grader with a gross vehicle mass (GVM) of between 4.5 and 20 tonnes a 'vehicle for transporting passengers or goods' for the purposes of subsection 43(1) of the Energy Grants Credits Scheme Act 2003 (EGCSA)?

Decision

No. A grader with a GVM of between 4.5 and 20 tonnes, is not a 'vehicle for transporting passengers or goods' for the purposes of subsection 43(1) of the EGCSA.

Facts

A client operates a road maintenance business which uses a grader.

The grader has a GVM of between 4.5 and 20 tonnes and is registered for use on public roads. The principal purpose of the grader is to work on the construction and maintenance of unsealed roads. The grader pushes and spreads the road material and undertakes grading of the road surface to ensure the surface is level.

Reasons for Decision

Subsection 43(1) of the EGCSA provides that a claimant is entitled to an on-road credit if they purchase diesel or alternative fuel for:

(a): use in a registered vehicle that has a gross vehicle mass of 4.5 tonnes or more, but less than 20 tonnes, where the vehicle is a vehicle for transporting passengers or goods; or
(b): incidental use in relation to such a vehicle.

In determining whether a vehicle is a 'vehicle for transporting passengers or goods', the Explanatory Memorandum to the Diesel and Alternative Fuels Grants Scheme Bill 1999 should be considered, as that Bill (and the resulting Diesel and Alternative Fuels Grants Scheme Act 1999) contain the same terminology that appears in the EGCSA. When discussing the eligibility of 'vehicles for transporting passengers or goods', the Explanatory Memorandum refers to vehicles that are;

...designed for transporting passengers or goods... (emphasis added).

The Explanatory Memorandum to the Energy Grants (Credits) Scheme Bill 2003 and the Energy Grants (Credits) Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2003 provides an example of a vehicle that is not for transporting goods or passengers:

Paragraph 2.8 of the Explanatory Memorandum states:

...If a vehicle is not for transporting goods or passengers (e.g. special purpose vehicles such as mobile cranes), it will only be eligible for the movement to or from the place where it is to be, or has been used.

We consider that the following tests are relevant in determining whether a particular vehicle is a 'vehicle for transporting goods or passengers':

(a): is the vehicle designed for the purpose of transporting goods or passengers?
(b): is the vehicle a special purpose vehicle?

A grader is not specifically designed to carry passengers or goods, and is not suitable for this purpose. Rather, a grader is designed to carry out special purpose work, being grader operations work. Accordingly, the grader is a special purpose vehicle and not a 'vehicle for transporting passengers or goods' for the purposes of the EGCSA.

Date of decision: 14 November 2005

Legislative References:
Energy Grants (Credits) Scheme Act 2003
subsection 43(1)

Related ATO Interpretative Decisions
ATO ID 2003/884

Other References:
Explanatory Memorandum to the Diesel and Alternative Fuels Grants Scheme Bill 1999
The Explanatory Memorandum to the Energy Grants (Credits) Scheme Bill 2003 and the Energy Grants (Credits) Scheme (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2003

Keywords
Energy grants (credits) scheme
EGCS on-road
Vehicle for transporting passengers or goods

Business Line: Indirect Tax

Date of publication: 25 November 2005

ISSN: 1445-2782

history

	Date:	Version:
	14 November 2005	Original statement
You are here	1 July 2012	Archived

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