The rate of customs duty for fuel will increase on 29 September 2022. Goods that are entered for home consumption on or after this date will be required to pay the new duty rates. The Customs Tariff Amendment (Cost of Living Support) Act 2022 provided for a temporary 50% reduction in the excise-equivalent customs duty of certain fuels from 30 March 2022. The increase in these duty rates is a result of the end of this measure.
In March the Cost-of-Living Support Bill was introduced into the House of Representatives. It provided for a temporary 50% reduction to the non-ad valorem rate of customs duty applied to fuel that is classified to chapter 27 of the Customs Tariff. Rates are calculated under subheadings listed in section 19 of the Customs Tariff Act and are subject to bi-annual indexation in accordance with the indexation factor.
For petrol and diesel, the rates were reduced from 44.2 cents to 22.1 cents per litre. The temporary reduction period applied from 30 March 2022 to 29 September 2022.
This week the Australian Border Force (ABF) has issued Australian Customs Notice No. 2022/41: “Increase in rate of customs duty for certain fuels.”
Classifications and duty rates.
The ACN announces that, as from 29 September 2022, the new duty rates will apply to goods classified to the listed Customs Tariff subheadings in Schedule 3 and Schedules 4A to 14, inclusive.
The new rate applies to fuel classified to Chapter 27, covering mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation. The rate applying to that general description will now be: “$ 0.460 per litre of petroleum fuels including diesel, ethanol and biodiesel, and blends thereof, plus customs duty where applicable.”
The law indexes the excise duty rates for fuel twice a year, based on the upward movement of the consumer price index (CPI). Generally, indexation occurs on 01 February and 01 August. The CPI indexation factor for rates from 01 August 2022 was 1.040. Therefore, the reduced rate of 22.1cents per litre now reverts to the figures used prior to March, i.e., 44.2 cents x 1.04 giving the new rate of 46 cents per litre.
The excise-equivalent duty on fuel is intended to be used to help pay for our roads. Like almost all federal taxes, it goes into the Government’s general revenue, which is then drawn upon to fund our transport infrastructure. In other words, it is the contribution that you, as a motorist, make to the development and maintenance of our road transport system.
GST – or the Goods and Services Tax – is also applied to fuel at the standard rate of 10% no matter what the per-litre price is.
For related news on vehicles and fuel, read our earlier article HERE.
For information about imports and Customs duty, talk to us here at Colless Young. As licensed Customs Brokers and International Freight Forwarders, we professionally handle all your consignments, both sea cargo and airfreight. We provide a complete range of transport services, including exports, trucking and warehousing. We are based in Brisbane and offer logistics facilities through all Australian ports and airports.
