The fuel used to run sleeper cab air conditioners should be exempt from fuel tax claim the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) in a submission to the tax office.
It said this would enable trucking operators to claim up to $300 in additional fuel tax credits per truck per year.
“The Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruled last year that only fuel used ‘for travelling’ is subject to the 25.5 cents per litre road user charge,” ATA Chief Executive Stuart St Clair said.
“The fuel used to operate sleeper cab air conditioners is not used for travelling. It is used to regulate the sleeper cab temperature while the truck engine is off and the driver is resting. As a result, it should not be subject to the road user charge.”
The submission argues that the most important ambiguity in the tax office’s current approach to fuel tax relates to the carbon charge.
“In the ATA’s view, the tax office should definitively rule that none of the fuel used by the heavy on-road transport industry, including fuel used off-road for incidental purposes, should be subject to the carbon charge under the existing legislation,” Mr St Clair said.
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