How to calculate your Fuel Tax Credits (FTC) rebates

How to calculate your Fuel Tax Credits (FTC) rebates

Who is eligible for fuel tax credits?

Australian businesses who use fuel for operations including machinery, plant, equipment, heavy vehicles, and light vehicles travelling off public roads. Businesses can claim refunds for previously under-claimed fuel bought in the last 4 years.

When calculating your rebate, how much you can claim will depend on:

  • When the fuel was purchased – Did you buy it within the last 4 years? What was the FTC rate when you bought it?
  • What kind of fuel it was – Off-road use of petrol, diesel, and certain blended fuels is reimbursed at 2.5 times the standard rate.
  • How the fuel was used – Was it used by a heavy vehicle on a public road? The standard on-road rate applies.
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Common examples of off-road areas

For FTC purposes, ‘off-road areas’ means places off public roads and can include any of the following:

  • Truck stop
  • Vehicle depot
  • Farm
  • Mining site
  • Quarry
  • Logging site
  • Construction site
  • Loading dock
  • Private road
  • Council refuge site
  • Worksites overlapping public roads

How do I work out my fuel tax credit rebate?

Step 1: Determine your eligible fuel quantities.

Eligible fuels include liquid fuels like petrol, diesel, kerosene, and heating oil and blended fuels B5, B20, and E10. Work out how much of these fuels you used for each business activity over the reporting period:

  • Off-road use including idling, powering auxiliary equipment, and travel off public roads
  • On-road use by heavy vehicles only

NOT eligible for FTC claims:

  • Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), and blended fuels E85 and B100 used on-road by heavy vehicles
  • On-road use of any fuel used by a light vehicle (less than 4.5 tonnes gross vehicle mass)
  • Aviation fuels
  • Fuel used in heavy vehicles that don’t meet environmental emissions criteria
  • FTC already claimed earlier in the supply chain
  • Fuel that was stolen, lost, or disposed of
  • Fuel used for private purposes

Because a vehicle may use the same tank of fuel for a combination of on- and off-road activities, to receive your maximum entitlement, you must document which usage is which. Generally, you would keep a manual or electronic logbook showing date, fuel type, distance travelled, amount used, and nature of use.

Step 2: Apply the correct FTC rate

For each eligible fuel type and use listed above, use the rate that applied when you acquired the fuel.

Fuel tax credit rates are reviewed every six months and updated regularly to keep pace with the consumer price index (CPI). See the Australian Taxation Office rate tables for more details.

Step 3: Calculate your off-road and on-road fuel tax credits.

Multiply each eligible fuel quantity in Step 1 by the relevant FTC rate in Step 2. Divide each result by 100 to convert it into dollars and claim whole dollar amounts on your business activity statement (BAS). Do not include cents.

Your FTC rebate  =

off-road (Step 1 x Step 2)

100

+

on-road (Step 1 x Step 2)

100

In the past, businesses had to document all of this manually – a laborious process prone to imprecision and error. Because it was so tedious and difficult to track, companies routinely claimed the standard on-road rate, leaving money on the table.

Now, smart tools like EROAD’s FTC Solution make it easy, automatically pulling telematics data that shows when, where, and how much of each fuel type was consumed, doing what type of activity. By reporting accurately, you’ll be able to receive the maximum refund you’re entitled to, spend way less time on admin, reduce fuel inefficiencies, and grow your bottom line.

Have you claimed every eligible dollar?

Backdate your FTC claims by up to 4 years

Use EROAD to establish a 6-month pattern of continuous use – even before you had EROAD installed. You’ll be able to recover under-claimed rebates from as far back as 4 years ago, starting from the day after you lodged your BAS for the tax period when you acquired the fuel.

Data collection is always accurate, complete, and fully automated, taking all the burden out of the administrative process.

Claim the maximum FTC rate for:

  • Vehicles used for idling or operating auxiliary equipment (including compressors, air-conditioning, refrigeration, farming, or hydraulic machinery)
  • Light vehicles traveling or operating off-road

How EROAD’s FTC Solution works

Automatically collect, manage, and compile accurate data to maximise your FTC claim. All data for the reporting period is compiled into an easy-to-read report, and all data and fuel transactions are securely stored in Depot, EROAD’s web-based interface, alongside an archived record of the claim per reporting period.

  1. Install EROAD’s Ehubo2 GPS tracking hardware in your fleet vehicles.
  2. Connect any auxiliary equipment to Ehubo2 (up to 3 connections available). Every vehicle on Ehubo2 will now be tracked and electronically logged.
  3. Automatically record data on vehicle performance, activity, and location and classify use as on-road or off-road. FTC Solution also records other activity, such as idling, ignition being turned on or off, and auxiliary equipment being operated off-road.
  4. Create custom zones using Depot to define on-road and off-road use. For example, to claim the maximum FTC rate, a construction site on a main road can be ‘geofenced’ as an off-road worksite.
  5. Set up fuel consumption rates based on engine diagnostics, manufacturer’s specifications, or industry sampling for idling and auxiliary equipment usage.
  6. Use CSV bulk upload to easily upload fuel transactions in Depot.
  7. Upload the data to your office financial systems.
  8. Collect the maximum monthly FTC rebate you deserve!

Guide: How to Maximise your fleet's Fuel Tax Credits (FTC)
How to Maximise your fleet's Fuel Tax Credits (FTC)
Many businesses are missing out on getting their full FTC entitlement. Find out how EROAD can help unlock the maximum FTC refund for your business.

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