How Taxes Can Affect Your Fleet

Just when you thought it was safe to get back on the road… April rolls around. And in some cases July. That means truck fleet taxes. How can taxes affect your fleet company, and what can you do about it?

How Taxes Can Affect Your Fleet | FuelZ

Lost Personal Miles

Sometimes business is business – but sometimes it’s personal… especially when it comes to the mileage of your drivers. Make sure that you have a policy that is apparent to your driving staff the distinction between their personal miles and their work miles. Each of these can be taxed – and you’re responsible for collecting the data for both.

By regularly reminding drivers of their responsibility to record all miles for the company, many will be logged that would otherwise go down to guesswork and expose the business to tax audits. Here, the benefits of a fleet management program are very helpful in giving drivers the ability to input their own numbers. Programs also offer driver log auditing, which is a great way to help you cut down on missing miles, increase your net profits and manage your drivers.

Lowered Vehicle Value

The typical loss of vehicle value is 20 percent each year. Remembering this will help you at tax time if you own your own vehicles.

When you’ve lost the total value of your vehicles in five years, you can save money on the taxes those vehicles will be charged. However, leased vehicles will not be eligible for taking a bite out of your taxes, because that will be counted only by the owner.

Alternative Fuel Tax Credit

If you’re running alternative fuels, you can claim a tax credit that may save you up to fifty cents on the gallon. Eligible fuels include compressed natural gas, liquified natural gas and petroleum gas, as well as P-series fuel, compressed or liquified gas made from biomass, and fuel that is made from coal using the Fischer-Tropsch process.

There are federal and state differences in the obtaining the tax credit – find out what are the laws and requirements that you need to fulfill, such as being registered with the IRS and liable to report tax and pay the federal tax on fuel.

Biodiesel is incentivised in a minority of states and Canadian provinces. As of 2015, those jurisdictions that offer…

Producers Credits or Income Tax Credits:

  • Illinois
  • Kansas
  • Manitoba (Canada)
  • Quebec (Canada)
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • Tennessee

Biodiesel Refunds:

  • Kansas
  • Maine
  • New York

Biodiesel Tax Exemptions:

  • New York
  • Oklahoma
  • Pennsylvania
  • Texas (Yes, Texas!)

Heavy Use Tax

This will hit you or it won’t. The Heavy Use Tax is applicable on vehicles with a gross weight of 55,000 pounds and up. To file, it takes a form 2290. There are different times to file the form – either between July 1st to June 30th, or the last day of the month after the month that the vehicle was first driven on a public highway.

You can become eligible for a tax credit or a refund on this tax if you are participating in a state vehicle replacement program.

Software

Consider implementing a 3rd party software to help you file your International Fuel Tax Agreement, log and audit your drivers’ miles, and automatically issue and track your permits.