You can claim fuel tax credits for eligible fuels you use in heavy vehicles, including heavy emergency vehicles, travelling on public roads if the vehicle meets all the following conditions:
- It is used in carrying on a business.
- It has a gross vehicle mass (GVM) greater than 4.5 tonnes – diesel vehicles acquired before 1 July 2006 can equal 4.5 tonnes.
Depending on your circumstances, you may also need to meet an environmental criterion for heavy diesel vehicles if they were manufactured before 1 January 1996.
The fuel tax credit rate you use depends on when you acquired the fuel and whether the fuel was used in the heavy vehicle, either:
- for travelling on public roads, which includes all aspects of the vehicle’s function that are for the vehicle’s operation, such as the use of lights, brakes, power-steering, windscreen wipers when travelling. It would also include the use of fuel to power the air-conditioning unit of the cabin of a vehicle and passenger air-conditioning in a bus.
- to power the auxiliary equipment of the heavy vehicle.
If your activity is not listed here, such as fuel used in vehicles on private roads or on work sites, it may be eligible under another business activity with a different fuel tax credit rate.
Next step:
- Use our Fuel tax credit eligibility tool to work out if you're eligible to claim
See also:
- Heavy vehicles (includes information on the environmental criteria and powering auxiliary equipment)
- All other business uses