The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has simplified the way fuel tax credits are recorded and calculated for businesses that claim less than $10,000 in fuel tax credits each year.

Businesses can use two methods from the March 2016 BAS period and onwards:

• Use one rate in BAS period – saving the need to use two different rates when rates change during a BAS period.
• Work out your litres based on the cost of the fuel you purchased.

Both or either of these methods can be used, and businesses do not need to inform the ATO of the methods used.

Use one rate in a BAS period

When fuel tax credit rates change in a BAS period, you can calculate your claim by using the rate that applies at the end of the period. To work out your claim, total your litres for the period and use the rate that is current on the last day of the BAS period.

Work out your litres

To work out the total litres of fuel, use the total cost of fuel purchased in the BAS period and divide it by the average price of fuel per litre for that period. Once you have the total litres for the BAS period, you can calculate your claim using the ATO’s fuel tax credit calculator.

Business owners must support their claim with documents that show that the quantity of fuel claimed was used in their business. The ATO accepts contractor statements, financial institution business credit/debit account statements, financial institution personal credit/debit account statements, point-of-sale docket and fuel supplier statements or invoices.

Businesses will need to keep records that support their claim for five years.