Vapour recovery unit (VRU) refunds
Gasoline and diesel fuels emit hydrocarbon vapours during the delivery process at petrol stations or storage facilities. These vapours, once captured by the petrol tankers, can be transported back to a licensed fuel terminal or refinery, where a VRU recondenses the vapours back into liquid fuel. Since the excise duty on this fuel has already been paid, you may be entitled to a refund.
You can claim a refund of excise duty where:
- the gasoline and diesel goods, including blends, are duty paid and delivered into the domestic market
- the goods have not been used
- a portion of the goods are returned to an excise-licenced premises and processed by a VRU, and
- the goods are subject to further manufacture or production.
From 1 July 2024, the amount of refund you are eligible for can be calculated using a single standardised rate of 0.0006442. The calculation uses the following formula:
The excise duty refund amount = goods (litres) delivered for home consumption × applicable duty rate paid for the goods × 0.0006442.
Refund limit
Gasoline has a higher recovery rate compared to diesel.
To ensure accuracy, your refund claim is subject to a refund limit. The volume of diesel or diesel blends can't exceed 2 times the volume of gasoline or gasoline blends delivered during the refund period.
Where the diesel proportion exceeds the refund limit, the amount of diesel for refund purposes will be taken to be 2 times the amount of gasoline.
If no gasoline is delivered in the refund period, no refund will be available.
To claim a refund, refer to Excise refund or drawback.
There is a 4-year time limit for lodging most refund claims.
Example: ratio of diesel to gasoline is within limit
Petro Pty Ltd's petrol tankers captured the vapours of dutiable diesel and gasoline during the month of July.
Petro Pty Ltd submits a refund claim for:
- 2,300,000 litres of diesel delivered, which they had paid excise duty for at $0.496 per litre
- 2,200,000 litres of gasoline delivered, which they had paid excise duty for at $0.496 per litre.
As the ratio of diesel to gasoline is 51/49 (or 1.05:1), and not 2 times greater, no refund limit applies.
Using the single standardised rate, Petro Pty Ltd calculates their refund amount to be a total of $1,437.85, based on their calculations for:
- Gasoline – 2,200,000 litres × $0.496 per litre x 0.0006442 = $702.95
- Diesel – 2,300,000 litres x $0.496 per litre x 0.0006442 = $734.90
Petro Pty Ltd's refund claim is $1,437.85.
End of example
Example: ratio of diesel to gasoline exceeds limit
The calculation will be different if Petro Pty Ltd had delivered:
- 1,200,000 litres of diesel
- 120,000 litres of gasoline.
As the ratio of diesel to gasoline is 91/9 (or 10.1:1), the refund limit applies. The amount they can claim for diesel is capped at 2 times the amount of gasoline, which is 240,000 litres.
Petro Pty Ltd's refund amount will be a total of $115.03, calculated as:
- Gasoline – 120,000 litres x $0.496 x 0.0006442 = $38.34
- Diesel – 240,000 litres x $0.496 x 0.0006442 = $76.69.
Petro Pty Ltd's refund claim is $115.03.
End of example