Tolling
Tolling is a revenue tool that can supplement road user charges and fuel excise duty to help fund roads.
Tolling
What you need to know
On 1 July 2018, a 10 cent per litre regional fuel tax on diesel and petrol came into effect in Auckland and ended on 30 June 2024. The regional fuel tax intended to raise revenue from road users for transport projects in Auckland.
Following the introduction of the regional fuel tax in Auckland we carried out a review to help determine which off-road uses of fuel should be eligible for a regional fuel tax rebate. We also reviewed the situations where people can claim a refund of petrol excise duty (PED). As a result of this work, the range of situations where someone may claim a regional fuel tax rebate was expanded. We released our final report in March 2020.
The work to date
04
Mar 2020
Final report on PED refunds and regional fuel tax rebates released
Our final report explored eligibility for a refund of PED and a rebate of regional fuel tax.
At the time of the report most of the refund and rebate entitlements related to productive fuel use, such as fuel used in farm vehicles or commercial ships. We considered whether there was merit in providing a refund or a rebate for fuel used in a broader range of situations — for example, fuel used around the home, or in recreational boats or aircraft.
We concluded that it would not be practical to offer more extensive entitlements at this time because creating new entitlements might:
- impact efficiency — that is, processing many small claims would have a substantial administrative cost, and
- undermine the integrity of the refund and rebate system due to the risk of fraud — in many cases it would be difficult for fuel users to provide proof they had bought fuel for off-road use.
The report also noted that:
- Waka Kotahi should look to improve the administration of claims, which may result in greater efficiencies and lower administration costs
- we are looking at how to fund the land transport system in the future, including options such as a distance-based charge to replace PED — if this new approach to charging for road use was implemented it would effectively resolve issues relating to the off-road use of fuel.
03
Dec 2018
Regulations expanding the entitlement to regional fuel tax rebates came into effect
Cabinet agreed to changes to regional fuel tax rebate entitlements for 4 off-road uses of petrol and diesel.
02
Aug 2018
Regulations expanding the entitlement to regional fuel tax rebates came into effect
The Land Transport Management (Regional Fuel Tax) Amendment Regulations 2018 came into effect on 24 August 2018 which define additional situations when someone could claim a regional fuel tax rebate.
01
Jun 2018–Jul 2018
Regional fuel tax in Auckland came into effect with the same eligibility for rebates as for the refund of PED
In June 2018, the Land Transport Management (Regional Fuel Tax) Regulations 2018 came into effect defining the situations when someone could claim a regional fuel tax rebate.