Businesses that use off-road fuel tax credits are advised to keep on top of their bookkeeping in order to reap the benefits of regular rate increases.
From 2 February the rate increased by 0.3 per cent, placing more money back in the hands of fleet departments.
Dubbo City Council Manager of Fleet Management Services Steven Colliver told
PWPro that record keeping is “very important”.
"Here at Dubbo City Council our accounts department is very aware of the ATO changes and monitors the website regularly to ensure that we firstly conform with the requirements and secondly take advantage of any changes that may benefit the Council."
Colliver's top tips for good bookkeeping are as follows:
1. Keep abreast of any changes by regularly checking relevant sites
2. Ensure that our systems reflect the changes if and when they occur and keep people informed of those changes
3. Archive the changes for auditing purposes
Rates are indexed twice a year – generally on 1 February and 1 August. Always check fuel tax credit rates online before completing your BAS.
Off-road fuel tax credits, which can be claimed by businesses for fuel used on projects such as road maintenance, first increased from 31.285 to 38.143 cents per litre after the Carbon Tax repeal legislation received Royal Assent on 17 July 2014.
The repeal documents were backdated to come into effect on 1 July 2014.
The Carbon Tax was originally established under the
Clean Energy Act in February 2011. It applied to companies whose direct emissions exceeded a certain annual threshold. An equivalent carbon tax was also imposed through the fuel tax system and synthetic greenhouse gas levies.
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