You can generally claim fuel tax credits for eligible fuels you use in heavy vehicles for travelling on public roads.

A public road is a road that’s available for members of the public to use. It may be sealed or unsealed and can include tracks and lanes.

Public roads include:

• toll roads
• bus lanes
• busways
• transit ways (T-ways)
• roads providing access to or between Indigenous communities
• roads through shopping centres, within hospitals, ports and airports.

Roads accessible to the public are public roads, even if they’re privately owned, operated or maintained.

Taxi lanes, taxi ranks and bus stops on streets are part of the public road network.

Examples of business activities that may be eligible to claim fuel tax credits for travelling on public roads include:

• road transport – including road trains transporting goods
• removalist truck
• bus industry such as diesel-powered busses
• heavy emergency vehicles
• trucks (vehicles with a GVM of greater than 4.5 tonnes) used for supermarket deliveries.

To be eligible to claim fuel tax credits, fuel must have been used for business purposes in a heavy vehicle that has a GVM greater than 4.5 tonnes. Diesel vehicles acquired before 1 July 2006 can equal 4.5 tonnes GVM.

A vehicle’s GVM is determined by the authority that registered the vehicle. Your vehicle’s GVM can be found in the vehicle’s owner manual or may be stated on the vehicle compliance plate or registration documents.

For prime movers, the GVM is the gross combination mass (GCM) of the mass of the vehicle and the trailer. Trailers can’t be included in the GVM of a rigid vehicle.

You can’t claim fuel tax credits for fuels you use in light vehicles of 4.5 tonnes GVM or less, travelling on public roads (for example, a car, four-wheel drive, utilities, small van, taxi or ride-sourcing service).