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Recently we've seen a few people get fined for running SVO/WVO or Biodiesel in their vehicles without paying the excise tax.
While running Biodiesel is great, in most states it's considered a fuel that's run in a vehicle on a public road and will require being taxed in one form or another.
The Federal Government allows for a federal excise tax exemption of up to 400 gallons of fuel run per quarter if it is used for non-commercial use.
State tax varies from state to state but in most cases, you're required to either complete paperwork (for a possible state excise fuel tax exemption) or required to log your biodiesel use and pay it on your income taxes at the end of the year.
Also, here's my take on the people that are getting fined and how they can avoid it:
Also, if you're worried about the state tax thing, do the same. In Utah we have this nice little box on my quarterly sales tax form whereI can indicate how much "untaxed fuel I used on a public road". More information can be found at your local state website or at the National Biodiesel Board (http://www.nbb.org)
[EDIT] 7/12/07Thought I'd add a few more things to this....
A company called EZ Biodiesel (http://www.ezbiodiesel.com) has a really good website on taxes & biodiesel.
It has more of a slant of selling the stuff rather than paying your taxes on using it, but it has a lot of good info none-the-less.
Here's the link to it:http://www.ezbiodiesel.com/biodiesel_tax_credits.htm
Also, here's the NBB's page on Taxes:http://www.biodiesel.org/news/taxincentive/
Interesting none-the-less.
-Graydon
Great post, Graydon! Thanks.
About Nebraska Road Tax self production/consumption.
It was painless here in Nebraska. I would have to think that by now most states are set for collecting tax from individuals.
When we first got started and contacted the State, they had no way to collect road tax from an individual. It took them only three days to get it set up and they were ready!
The process is simple here, every three months they send me an email reminder, I go on line and enter my issued ID number, then enter how many gallons I made in the past three months, I then print out the confirmation which computes the amount owed and mail that in with a check.
There is a catch! You must file even if you report zero gallons made AND if you do not file, there is a $50.00 per DAY fine!
In Nebraska tax is due when the fuel is made, even for off road use, then you have to file for a refund for any amount used off road.
So now when I complain about our roads I do not fell guilty!
Rick H...
Great post Graydon. Sounds sensible ... I'll be interested how this works out. I'm imagining getting a call and showing them my log of miles driven and fuel produced but wondering if that's enough to keep the fines from coming? Might be good enough after you've paid the first year in good faith. (BTW ... I'm currently running only commercial biodiesel and the whole 'tax angle' has me spooked away from going through the trouble just to save a couple bucks. Sad huh?)
The Wisconsin Blender's Fuel Report and Registration Tax can be found here:
http://dor.state.wi.us/forms/excise/mf-017f.pdf
Here's the complete list of Wisconsin fuel tax forms:
http://www.revenue.wi.gov/forms/excise/index-f.html