NatRoad has met with the Office of the Treasurer and is continuing to push for action by the new Federal Government to relieve the unfair suspension of the Fuel Tax Credit for heavy vehicle operators.
You will be aware that fuel tax credit rates have changed from 30 March to 28 September 2022. This is due to the temporary reduction in excise and excise equivalent customs duty rates for petrol, diesel, and all other petroleum-based products except aviation fuels.
If you acquired fuel on or after 30 March 2022, you'll need to apply the lower fuel tax credit rates in your monthly or quarterly business activity statement (BAS).
During this time, you won't be able to claim fuel tax credits for fuel use in heavy vehicles for travelling on public roads. This is because the road user charge exceeds the excise duty paid, which reduces the fuel tax credit rate to nil.
If you acquired fuel during the above period that includes the higher duty rate paid by the manufacturer or distributor before 30 March, then the duty paid may be higher than the fuel tax credit you can claim. If you are experiencing cash flow difficulties and you can't pay your BAS on time, you can contact the ATO on 13 11 42 to request more time to pay the difference.
If you are experiencing cash flow difficulties for other reasons, the ATO has support measures available to help you.
Changes to fuel tax credit rates for diesel or petrol used in heavy vehicles are in the table below:
| 2 August 2021 to 31 January 2022 | 1 February to 29 March 2022 |
30 March to 31 July 2022 |
1 August to 28 September 2022 |
|
| Fuel use in heavy vehicles for travelling on public roads (>4.5t GVM) | 16.9 cents per litre (cpl) | 17.8 cents per litre (cpl) | 0 cents per litre (cpl) | 0 cents per litre (cpl) |
| All other business uses (including to power auxiliary equipment of a heavy vehicle) | 43.3 cents per litre (cpl) | 44.2 cents per litre (cpl) | 22.1 cents per litre (cpl) | 22.1 cents per litre (cpl) + CPI indexation* |
*On 1 August 2022, the fuel tax credit rates for 'All other business uses (including to power auxiliary equipment of a heavy vehicle)' may increase based on the consumer price index (CPI) indexation.
When claiming fuel tax credits:
- use the fuel tax calculator, which makes it easy to apply the right rates. Visit ato.gov.au/ftccalc
- if you used a wrong rate in a previous BAS, you can correct it on the next BAS. Visit ato.gov.au/ftcerrors
