Review of fuel refunds and rebates Te arotake i ngā tono whakahoki pūtea mō te penehīni

Cabinet agreed to changes to regional fuel tax rebate entitlements for 4 off-road uses of petrol and diesel.

The regional fuel tax, unlike petrol excise duty, also applies to diesel, which is more widely used off-road than petrol. We suggested 4 circumstances when a rebate of the regional fuel tax would be appropriate. They were:

• petrol and diesel:
  • used exclusively or mainly off-road — that is, farm vehicles and other vehicles that are listed in the Schedule of the Road User Charges (Classes of RUC Vehicles) Exemption Order 2012
  • supplied in Auckland but then transported outside Auckland for commercial distribution
• diesel used for:
  • home heating, including water heating
  • electricity generation by non-commercial organisations, charities, and local and central government agencies.

Schedule of the Road User Charges (Classes of RUC Vehicles) Exemption Order 2012(external link) 

The entitlements are set out in the Land Transport Management (Regional Fuel Tax) Amendment Regulations (No 2) 2018 and came into effect on 21 December 2018.

Land Transport Management (Regional Fuel Tax) Amendment Regulations (No 2) 2018(external link)

As well as outlining additional entitlements, the Cabinet paper noted that we would report back on a further review of rebate and refund entitlements by June 2019 and prepare a report for stakeholders, which was released in March 2020.

Regional fuel tax

The Land Transport Management (Regional Fuel Tax) Amendment Regulations 2018 came into effect on 24 August 2018 which define additional situations when someone could claim a regional fuel tax rebate.

The amendment provides a rebate if fuel was bought in Auckland and then taken:

• out of New Zealand — for example, exported to the Pacific Islands, or
• to an island excluded from the regional fuel tax — for example, Great Barrier Island.

Land Transport Management (Regional Fuel Tax) Amendment Regulations 2018(external link)

Regional fuel tax(external link)

How land transport is funded

In June 2018, the Land Transport Management (Regional Fuel Tax) Regulations 2018 came into effect defining the situations when someone could claim a regional fuel tax rebate.

Who could claim a regional fuel tax rebate

The initial regulations provided the same entitlements to regional fuel tax rebates as those available for the refund of PED.

Land Transport Management (Regional Fuel Tax) Regulations 2018(external link)

People using fuel off-road can apply for a PED refund and a regional fuel tax rebate in specific situations, including for fuel used:

• in an exempt vehicle — mainly vehicles exempt from the motor vehicle licensing requirement, such as farm or agriculture vehicles
• in a licensed vehicle, specifically petrol vehicles that weigh over 3.5 tonnes that are subject to road sser charges
• in a commercial vessel, including boats used for search and rescue purposes
• for a commercial purpose, but not in a motor vehicle, vessel or aircraft — for example, fuel used in commercial electricity generators, portable light-towers or in the construction industry.

Land Transport Management (Apportionment and Refund of Excise Duty and Excise-Equivalent Duty) Regulations 2004(external link)

Who is exempt from road user charges