Tax exempt fuel from New York may cost carriers in the long run.

Drivers who purchased fuel from the state of New York may be in for a nasty surprise. The fuel tax suspension ran for seven months last year from June 1- December 31, 2022 was lifted January 2023. Basically distributers were required to suspend excise tax, prepaid sales tax, state sales and use taxes,  as well as the additional state and us tax imposed in the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District. Local sales and use taxes were not suspended.

This meant that fuel distributers and wholesalers were not required to remit the eight cents per gallon excise tax or the prepaid sales taxes and had to exclude those taxes from their sales. Same with retail sellers- they were required to exclude these taxes at the pump.

As of January 2023, these taxes resumed as normal. However, carriers who filled up in New York are finding out that there may be repercussions to not paying the taxes at the pump during this time. Basically, despite some taxes being suspended, the New York State fuel use tax was not suspended, so unless you have and exempt vehicle, this fuel use tax must be back paid. It is being labeled as an excise tax.

Because of the confusion, the state finance and taxation department are beginning go audit carriers that purchased fuel during the exemption to make sure that the fuel taxes were filed properly. Some carriers are being surprised with bills saying that they owe quite a bit back to the State of New York.

We wanted to give carriers a heads up that this is happening so that you can have your ducks in a row, should you end up being audited for purchasing fuel in New York during the last 2 quarters of last year, and perhaps facing a bill for back taxes.

For more information regarding the exemptions visit the State of New York website.