How to get four years of under-claimed FTC refunds back for your business

How to get four years of under-claimed FTC refunds back for your business

A major bonus for businesses, which is not commonly understood, is that they can claim retrospective FTC rebates for previously under-claimed off-road fuel for up to four years, provided they can show a consistent pattern of off-road fuel usage.

Why claim retrospective FTC for your fleet?

While many Australian businesses claim FTC regularly, many only claim the standard on-road FTC rate (currently 16.9 cents per litre*) for all fuel used, both on and off-road, as it is easy to calculate and doesn’t require keeping a logbook of all off-road activity. All you need is your fuel receipts and you are good to go.

But, with a difference of around 23 cents per litre between the standard on-road rebate rate and the off-road rebate rate (42.7 cents per litre), many businesses are under-claiming on their off-road travel.

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This is where EROAD can help!

By accurately recording your off-road travel, you can claim up to  2.5 times more than the standard FTC on-road rate for all your off-road travel.

ATO rules state that, if you can show a consistent pattern of off-road fuel use with a telematics solution, like EROAD’s fleet management software, over a concurrent six-month period for each vehicle, you are entitled to claim up to four years’ of retrospective off-road rebates back; even if you’ve previously submitted a claim. That could add up to a significant amount of money for some businesses over four years.

EROAD’s Fuel Tax Credit Solution easily helps you demonstrate a consistent business pattern of use with GPS technology to unlock under-claimed historical FTC rebates. You can review past activity to re-calculate and re-submit the fuel tax credits based off a more accurate and holistic set of considerations.

16.9 cents per /litre

Standard FTC rebate rate for heavy vehicles (>4.5t) travelling on public roads. Most claims for heavy vehicles are made at this rate.

42.7 cents per/litre

FTC rebate rate for eligible fuels for all types of vehicles (including light vehicles) used for business off-road or on private roads.

$23.00 per/100 litres approximately

The difference, or additional monies, per 100 litres businesses could be claiming for vehicles using eligible fuels to carry out business activities off-road or on private roads.

4 years

The number of years you can retrospectively claim off-road and auxiliary fuel use if you can show a six- month pattern of consistent usage via telematics.

*Note: Rates are as at 1 February 2021 – 30 June 2021. FTC rates are reviewed every six months so may differ slightly from those above. The off-road rate also varies depending on fuel type.

Businesses are entitled to claim up to 42.7 cents p/litre on diesel, petrol and some blended fuels for the following activities:
Light vehicles travelling or idling off public roads or on private property
Heavy vehicles travelling or idling off public roads or on private property
The use of auxiliary equipment i.e. concrete trucks, compressors, air conditioning, refrigeration units etc

EROAD’s Fuel Tax Solution can get you on the road to better rebates

EROAD’s fleet management solution has been designed to provide your business with analytics and insights to help you make better decisions about your fleet as well as maximise your FTC returns.

Simply by installing our advanced GPS tracking devices in your vehicles, you can track all fleet and vehicle activity, location and fuel usage – both on and off the road – at the touch of a button!

What’s more, you can also reduce unnecessary fuel spend and pinpoint inefficiencies.

Let technology take the FTC driving seat for you!

Not only does it capture accurate data to help businesses operate their fleets safely, more efficiently and productively, it also uses advanced GPS-tracking technology to map real-time locational and fuel usage data (on and off-road) to maximise your FTC returns.

In effect, it automates the FTC record-keeping process which provides significant benefits to your business:

  • It takes the guesswork out of your FTC claims as it records the location of every litre of fuel used
  • It then automatically calculates your FTC – saving you significant admin time at the same time as maximising your claim
  • It can also help you prove a current six-month pattern of use for your vehicles which will enable you to then claim retrospectively for under-claimed FTC for the previous four years.

Who is eligible to apply for retrospective fuel tax credit refunds?

Any business that uses fuel off-road in their heavy or light commercial vehicles, equipment or machinery. This includes businesses who have either under-claimed in previous periods at the standard on-road rate or not at all. As long as you can claim a consistent pattern of use for a period of six months, you will be entitled to claim retrospective FTC rebates. EROAD’s FTC Solution can help capture your six-month fuel usage to support your retrospective claim.

What do I need to do to make an FTC retrospective claim?

You will need to know how much fuel you have used, what type of fuel you’ve purchased for each business activity and how much of that was used in off-road activity. If you have not kept records of that over the past four years, that’s ok. EROAD’s smart FTC Manager can capture a consistent pattern of use for six months which can then be used to make a retrospective claim on off-road use for the previous four years.

If my business hasn’t kept any fuel data or claimed FTC at all, can I make a retrospective claim?

Absolutely. EROAD can help you collect usage data for six months to show a consistent pattern of use which can then be used to claim off-road FTC rebates for up to four years previous.

How much can we expect to get back in retrospective claims?

It depends entirely on your business and the nature and amount of off-road fuel usage. However, in our experience, some customer rebates have ranged from thousands to millions of dollars, depending on the size and nature of the business.

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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