Farmers are eligible for a rebate on their fuel purchased for farm purposes. Petrol includes a tax imposed by the government called fuel excise duty which is used to fund our national roads. However, any petrol used for farm vehicles not used on the roads receive this duty back as a rebate. This includes quads, motorbikes, and deregistered farm vehicles such as a Rav 4 or Jimny.
Key points
Diesel is not able to be claimed a rebate on, however, those in Auckland that are subject to the regional fuel tax of 10 cents per litre can claim this back on diesel and petrol.
Currently the duty is at a reduced rate of 45.02 cents per litre until 30 June 2023.
The refund is GST inclusive so you must include in your GST return.
You can claim on bulk farm delivery.
You can claim for the previous two years.
How to claim a refund
1. Register with NZTA and they will assign you a customer number.
See this website https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/fuel-excise-duty-refunds/ for the form and email address to send it to.
2. Once you have your customer number, fill out an MR70 form each quarter.
You will need to provide opening and closing fuel balances each quarter, however if you don’t have bulk fuel you could leave this blank.
You will need to detail which vehicles used the fuel and what percentage they used. The total percentage must equal 100%.
You must provide details on where the fuel was purchased, the type of fuel, amount and date.
You need to keep all your fuel receipts unless you use a fuel card (eg. Farmsource) in which case you can send in the statements. These get sent in with the application.
Email the MR70 form and supporting documents to fed@nzta.govt.nz
Applications must be sent within three months of the close of a quarter to avoid penalty. Quarters close 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December.
There is a guide available published by NZTA to help you through the process. If you google ‘MR70 guide’ it should be one of the first results.
It can take a couple of months for NZTA to process the refund.
Companies that process the refund for you
There are companies that can process the rebates for you, however they can be costly do make sure you check their pricing first. Some charge a new client establishment fee, plus take a percentage of the refund.
Examples are NZ Petrol Refunds, Fuel Rebates NZ and Catalyst Fuel Refunds.
This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal or accounting advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction.
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