For businesses managing a vehicle fleet, or using fuel for business activities, the Fuel Tax Credits scheme can be an excellent route for operators to claim full or partial credits for the fuel tax (excise or customs duty) that's included in the price of fuel.
Under the FTC system, fuel used in machinery, plant & equipment, heavy vehicles, and light vehicles over 4.5 tonnes gross vehicle mass travelling off public roads or on private roads can be entitled to a certain rate of credit dependent on when you acquire the fuel, what it is used for, type of fuel, and the business activity for its use.
Fuel Tax Credits are claimed on your Business Activity Statement, and you may make a claim within four years of purchasing the fuel. The amount of credit changes every six-months (February & August, with an interim change in July), with current Fuel Tax Credits increased per CPI indexes.
What Type of Vehicles & Fuel Types are eligible to claim Fuel Tax Credits under the Scheme?
We have included an outline of eligible vehicles, suitable to claim the Fuel Tax Credits below:
concrete transportation vehicles;- refrigerated vehicles;
- waste management collection vehicles
- long-haul vehicles with sleeper cabins;
- vehicles with specialised auxiliary equipment (ie. trucks with equipment for unloading/loading, elevated work platforms, truck-mounted loader cranes, drilling equipment, pumping equipment, and truck-blower for dry goods).
Additionally, we have also included a list of eligible fuel types which can be claimed:
- Liquid fuels (for exampled - Diesel or Petrol);
- Blended fuels (B5, B20, E10);
- Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) (duty paid);
- Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) (duty paid);
- Blended fuel (E85); and
- B100
The updated July 2024 Fuel Tax Credit rates are as follows (per the ATO website):
Fuel Acquired 1 July 2024 to 4 August 2024
| Eligible Fuel Type | Used in heavy vehicles for travelling on public roads | All other business uses (including to power auxiliary equipment of a heavy vehicle) |
| Liquid fuels - for example, diesel or petrol | 19.1 | 49.6 |
| Blended fuels: B5, B20, E10 | 19.1 | 49.6 |
| Blended fuel: E85 | 0 | 21.295 |
| Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) (duty paid) | 0 | 16.2 |
| Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) (duty paid) | 0 | 34.0 |
| B100 | 0 | 14.9 |
What records are required to claim Fuel Tax Credits?
Businesses must keep a detailed motor vehicle logbook for a five-year period, containing the following information:
- when the logbook period begins and ends;
- date of each trip;
- odometer reading at the start and end of each trip;
- kilometers travelled per trip and reason travelled;
- the total business use percentage in the logbook;
- odometer readings for the start and end of each Income Tax Year that you use the logbook
Further information on the records you need to provide are outlined in the table below:
| Information your records need to show: | Examples of types of records: |
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You will need to keep more than one of these record types to support your claims. For example, you will need to keep tax invoices to show when you acquired the fuel, copies of contracts to show the activities that the fuel was used in, as well as GPS data if some of your fuel is used in a heavy vehicle that operates off a public road.
Are there other eligible areas that vehicles can claim Fuel Tax Credits?
Heavy vehicle operators may be eligible to claim further tax credits for fuel used to power auxiliary vehicle equipment. This eligibility is subject to select criteria surrounding fuel types and applied to heavy vehicles (including emergency vehicles) with a gross vehicle mass greater than 4.5 tonnes.
It is important to note that fuel used to power the auxiliary equipment may be sourced from a separate fuel tank or from the tank that fuels the main engine. Additionally, the auxiliary equipment may also take its power from the main engine, which in turn increases the fuel used.
Additionally, where you have a non-heavy vehicle that is used both on-road and off-road you will need to estimate the percentage that is off-road and only claim that amount. This includes if you are travelling between properties on a public road.
For More Information
To understand how Archer Gowland Redshaw can assist your business, find out more information via our Transport & Logistics section on our website.
For more information on your eligibility to claim additional Fuel Tax Credits or an initial consultation, please contact Greg Rankin (Manager) or Smiljan Jankovic (Managing Director) on (07) 3002 2699 | info@agredshaw.com.au.
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