FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is excise duty?
Excise duty is the tax added to petrol sold in NZ to cover costs relating to new and existing roading infrastructure. It is currently 83.4 cents per litre (including GST).
Who is entitled to a petrol refund?
Businesses that use petrol in machinery off the public road are entitled to claim back the road tax portion of their petrol cost. Currently this is 83.4c per litre (including GST).
Why wouldn’t my accountant be doing this for me?
Most accountants don’t process petrol refunds. They specialize in income and GST filed with the IRD. The complexities of the NZTA claim process would mean that in many cases it would not be financially worthwhile for an accountant to complete.
NZ Petrol Refunds specialises in processing these claims so we have developed an extremely efficient system to maximise the refund to our customers.
What is involved in making a claim?
We gather the required information from you, such as machinery details, fuel usage and company information.
We take this, collate and analyse it, run it through our system and create a refund application that contains everything the NZTA requires, in the format they prefer.
It takes up to a couple of months for the claim to be processed by the NZTA. The money is then paid into our company account and forwarded to you minus our fees.
How much can I expect to get back?
As a rough guide, if you are using 50 litres per week in off-road equipment or vehicles, your first claim would be around $2,593 (assuming you can provide us with records going back two years). Then you could look forward to an ongoing refund of $425.62 every three months.
Will you keep claiming for me moving forward?
Yes. We will claim for you automatically at the end of every quarter. We make everything as easy as possible for our clients. We’ll contact you for a quick chat about your recent usage. And then you just sit back and wait for the money
What are your fees?
We take our fees out of your refund. No refund, no fee. There is no upfront cost.
NZ Petrol Refunds charges a one-off $379 new client establishment fee which covers our initial information gathering and registering you with the NZTA. This will be deducted from your first tax refund. After that we take a 17.5% commission, with a minimum quarterly fee of $47, out of the money we get back for you. All fees are exclusive of GST.
All our fees and commissions are fully tax deductible. We only charge you if there is a refund owing. No refund = no fee!
How far back can I claim?
Two years.
What is RFT?
Regional Fuel Tax is currently only charged in Auckland. The scheme began on 1 July 2018, at a rate of 10 cents per litre (plus GST), on petrol, diesel and their bio-variants. This tax supports transport projects that would otherwise be delayed or not funded.
Can I claim for diesel?
Yes for RFT, but no for excise duty.
Do I need to keep all my receipts from now on?
Yes, unless you use a fuel card. In which case we can usually liaise directly with your fuel company.
I get bulk farm delivery. Can I still claim?
Absolutely.
I buy my fuel in containers from a service station. Can I claim?
No problem – just keep all your receipts.
Can I take over claiming once you have set us up?
Yes, if you prefer.
