Activities where the fuel is combusted

• Road transport – that is, vehicles with a GVM greater than 4.5 tonnes travelling on public roads (diesel vehicles you acquired before 1 July 2006 can equal 4.5 tonnes GVM)
• Specified off-road activities in      
  • agriculture
  • fishing
  • forestry
   
• Other off-road activities – for example    
  • mining
  • marine and rail transport
  • nursing and medical services
  • burner applications
  • electricity generation by commercial generator plant, stationary generator or a portable generator
  • construction
  • manufacturing
  • wholesale/retail
  • property management
  • landscaping 
   

Off-road activities include vehicles travelling on private roads.

See also:

• Fuel used for travelling on public roads
• Fuel used to power auxiliary equipment

Road transport

For the current and previous years' rates for heavy vehicles travelling on public roads, refer to Fuel tax credit rates.

For fuel you acquired from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2014 and used:

• in heavy vehicles for travelling on public roads, you need to use the rate in effect at the beginning of the tax period covered by your BAS (from 1 July 2014, rates will change regularly and you will need to use the rate in effect when you acquired the fuel)
• to power auxiliary equipment of a heavy vehicle travelling on public roads, you need to use the rate in effect on the day you acquired the fuel.

If your activity is not listed here, such as fuel used in a vehicle on a private road, it may be eligible under another activity with a different fuel tax credit rate.

Heavy vehicles are those vehicles that have a GVM greater than 4.5 tonnes. Diesel vehicles acquired before 1 July 2006 can equal 4.5 tonnes GVM.

The GVM of a vehicle is the GVM accepted by the authority that registered the vehicle. Trailers cannot be included in the GVM of a rigid vehicle. For prime movers, the GVM is the gross combination mass – that is, the mass of the vehicle and the trailer.

You can claim fuel tax credits for taxable fuels you use in a heavy vehicle, including 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 GVM greater than 4.5 tonnes – diesel vehicles acquired before 1 July 2006 can equal 4.5 tonnes GVM
• diesel vehicles meet any one of the environmental criteria.

The rate you use when working out your fuel tax credit amounts depends on the fuel used and whether you use it:

• in a heavy vehicle for travelling on public roads – this rate is reduced by the road user charge but not reduced by the carbon charge
• to power auxiliary equipment of the heavy vehicle travelling on a public road – this rate is not reduced by the road user charge or the carbon charge.

See also:

• Heavy vehicles  

Fuel used for travelling on public roads

Fuel is used for travelling when it is used for:

• propelling the vehicle along the public road, including stopping or idling in the course of the journey
• powering the functions of the vehicle that are for the purpose of travelling, such as the use of lights, brakes, power-steering and windscreen wipers.

The fuel tax credit rate for this fuel is reduced by the road user charge, which is subject to change. It was not reduced by the carbon charge, which applied from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2014.

It does not include fuel used for purposes unrelated to a vehicle's movement on a public road.

Transport gaseous fuels – that is, LPG, LNG or CNG – used in heavy vehicles for travelling on public roads are eligible for fuel tax credits. However, the road user charge currently reduces any fuel tax credits to nil for these fuels where it is used for travelling on a public road.

You can convert the road user charge rate to cents per kilogram for LNG and CNG by multiplying it by 1.333.

Fuel used to power auxiliary equipment

Liquid or gaseous fuel you use to power auxiliary equipment of a heavy vehicle travelling on public roads is not reduced by the road user charge or the carbon charge. This fuel use is considered to be unrelated to a vehicle’s movement along a public road, such as powering:

• the mixing barrel of a concrete truck
• garbage bin lifters and compacting mechanisms of a garbage truck
• the refrigeration unit of a vehicle that transports temperature-sensitive goods
• the air-conditioning of a commercial bus or coach for passenger comfort
• winches and towing equipment of a tow truck.

The fuel that is used to power the auxiliary equipment may be sourced from a separate fuel tank or from the tank that fuels the main engine. The auxiliary equipment may also take its power from the main engine (known as 'power take-off’), which in turn increases the fuel used.

Fuel used in auxiliary equipment does not include fuel you use in mobile equipment, such as forklifts and bobcats. This type of plant or equipment may be eligible under other off-road activities.

See also:

• Heavy vehicles  
• FTR 2008/1 Fuel tax: vehicle's travel on a public road that is incidental to the vehicle's main use and the road user charge

Agriculture

For the rates for specified agricultural activities, refer to Fuel tax credit rates. You need to use the rate that applied when you acquired the fuel.

These specified agricultural activities were exempt from the carbon charge. Fuel tax credits for non-transport gaseous fuels acquired from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2014 and used in specified agriculture activities were equal to the carbon charge amount.

If your activity is not listed here, you may be eligible for a fuel tax credit under another activity with a different fuel tax credit rate, such as Other off-road activities.

You can claim fuel tax credits for taxable fuel you use in an agricultural activity if the purpose of your business is to obtain produce for sale (or it directly supports such a business), including:

• cultivating or gathering in crops
• cultivating the soil
• rearing livestock (any animal raised to produce food, fibres, skins, fur or feathers or for use in farming the land)
• viticulture, horticulture, pasturage or apiculture
• transporting livestock (any animal raised to produce food, fibres, skins, fur or feathers or for use in farming the land) ) – for example, moving livestock for agistment – other than on a public road (which may be eligible under the road transport activity)
• hunting and trapping
• removing waste from an agricultural activity.

The following activities are also eligible if they are carried out on an agricultural property:

• drilling bores
• building or maintaining firebreaks
• fencing
• frost abatement
• controlling weeds, pests or disease
• building or maintaining sheds, pens, silos, silage pits, dams, water tanks, troughs, channels, irrigation systems and drainage systems
• planting and tending trees not intended for felling
• constructing earthworks, including dams, levee banks, windbreaks, contour banking and levelling or grading land
• conserving soil and water
• milking, shearing and mustering stock
• breeding animals for working the land, such as draught horses
• breeding animals for livestock activities, such as stockhorses or working dogs
• baling hay on the agricultural property where the hay was cut
• service, maintenance and repairing business vehicles or equipment
• storing or packing produce
• preventing produce deterioration
• disposing of waste from an agricultural activity
• use of the fuel for a residential premises by the farmer for themselves and other residents of the premises for meeting their domestic requirements.

The following activities are also eligible for fuel tax credits at the full rate if they are carried out on, or adjacent to, an agricultural property:

• pumping and supplying water solely for use in agriculture
• building or maintaining firebreaks
• fire fighting.

See also:

• FTR 2012/1W Fuel tax: fuel tax credits for taxable fuel acquired or manufactured in, or imported into, Australia for use in carrying on an enterprise involving 'agriculture' as defined in section 43-15 of the Fuel Tax Act 2006.

Fishing

For the rates for specified fishing activities, refer to Fuel tax credit rates. You need to use the rate that applied when you acquired the fuel.

These specified fishing activities were exempt from the carbon charge. Fuel tax credits for non-transport gaseous fuels acquired from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2014 and used in specified fishing activities were equal to the carbon charge amount.

If your activity is not listed here, you may be eligible for a fuel tax credit under another activity with a different fuel tax credit rate, such as Other off-road activities. If you are undertaking commercial fishing operations, you can claim for taxable fuel (for example, diesel, petrol or gaseous fuels) you use for any of the following activities, if these activities are not connected with sport, recreation or tourism:

• taking, catching, capturing of fish (freshwater and saltwater fish, including crustaceans, molluscs and any other living resource sourced from the sea, seabed, freshwater or the bed below freshwater)
• processing fish on board vessels
• fish farming
• constructing ponds and tanks or other structures to contain fish to be farmed, as long as this is done by the fish farmer or a contractor or subcontractor to the farmer
• pearling
• operating a dedicated mother vessel in connection with eligible fishing operations
• sailing a vessel to or from a port for the purpose of refitting or repairing the vessel or its equipment
• undertaking trials connected with the repair or refit.

See also:

• FTR 2012/3W Fuel tax: fuel tax credits for taxable fuel acquired or manufactured in, or imported into, Australia for use in carrying on an enterprise involving 'fishing operations' as defined in section 43-70 of the Fuel Tax Act 2006.

Forestry

For the rates for specified forestry activities, refer to Fuel tax credit rates. You need to use the rate that applied when you acquired the fuel.

These specified forestry activities were exempt from the carbon charge. Fuel tax credits for non-transport gaseous fuels acquired from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2014 and used in specified forestry activities were equal to the carbon charge amount.

If your activity is not listed here, you may be eligible for a fuel tax credit under another activity with a different fuel tax credit rate, such as Other off-road activities.

If you are undertaking commercial forestry operations, you can claim for taxable fuel (for example, diesel, petrol or gaseous fuels) you use for any of the following activities:

• planting or tending trees in a forest or plantation that is intended for felling
• felling or thinning trees in a forest or plantation
• transporting, milling or processing trees in the forest or plantation in which they were felled – if the transport is not on a public road
• transporting timber to a sawmill or chip mill that is outside the forest or plantation but inside Australia – if the transport is not on a public road
• milling timber at a sawmill or chip mill outside the forest or plantation
• constructing and maintaining roads in a forest or plantation, if the roads are integral to eligible forestry activities – this does not include quarrying activities or transporting any materials you use for road building.

See also:

• FTR 2012/2W Fuel tax: fuel tax credits for taxable fuel acquired or manufactured in, or imported into, Australia for use in carrying on an enterprise involving 'forestry' as defined in section 43-75 of the Fuel Tax Act 2006

Other off-road activities

Fuel tax credits for these activities were reduced by an amount of carbon charge relevant to the fuel. Carbon charge amounts changed annually and applied during the period 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2014.

For the latest rates for these activities, refer to Fuel tax credit rates and eligible fuels. You need to use the rate that applied when you acquired the fuel.

If your activity is not listed here, you may be eligible for a fuel tax credit under another activity with a different fuel tax credit rate.

Examples of other off-road activities

The following are examples of off-road activities – that is, activities not undertaken on a public road – where the fuel is combusted (Note: it is not a complete list):

• mining
• marine and rail transport
• nursing and medical services
• burner applications
• electricity generation by commercial generator plant, stationary generator or a portable generator
• construction
• manufacturing
• wholesale/retail
• property management
• landscaping
• dredging
• panel beating
• greenhouse heating
• in cement kilns
• quarrying
• in industrial furnaces.