PwC Australia’s Global Trade team combines customs, trade, supply chain and technology.
Global Trade | Excise & Fuel Tax Credits
Navigate complexity. Optimise outcomes.
At PwC Australia, our Excise & Fuel Tax Credit (FTC) team blends in-depth technical expertise with hands-on industry experience to support businesses in managing excise duties, optimising fuel tax credit claims, and establishing strong compliance systems. Whether you're a producer, manufacturer, importer, distributor, or end-user of excisable goods, we're here to guide you through every step, from obtaining licenses and permits to handling returns, refunds, and resolving disputes.
Our tech-driven approach ensures that excise and FTC regulations are seamlessly integrated into your systems and processes, cutting down on manual work and reducing compliance risks. We collaborate closely with your finance, tax, and operations teams to embed excise and FTC needs into your tech framework, allowing you to concentrate on your core business.
Excise and fuel tax credits
What is excise?
Excise duty is an indirect tax on alcohol, fuel, petroleum, and tobacco production and importation. Australia's excise rates, among the world's highest, increase at least twice yearly, significantly impacting affected businesses.
The ATO administers domestic excise, while the ABF handles customs duty on imports. Both agencies enforce compliance through audits, border interventions, and penalties, with illicit alcohol and tobacco trade a priority.
What are Fuel Tax Credits (FTCs)?
FTCs allow eligible businesses to claim a credit for the fuel tax included in the price of fuel used in carrying on their business. This is particularly relevant where fuel is used in activities off public roads, e.g. mine sites, farms or airports, and for operating auxiliary equipment such as generators or pumps.
Complex eligibility rules, frequent rate changes and strict substantiation requirements mean that many businesses under‑claim entitlements or carry unnecessary compliance risk.
Our solutions
Alcohol Tax Advisory
At PwC, we understand the intricate landscape of excise duty, excise equivalent goods duty (EEG) and Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) and are here to guide you through it. Our team is dedicated to helping you manage every aspect of alcohol excise with precision and clarity. Here's how we can support you:
- Excise Licence Applications & Renewals: Whether you're a manufacturer, importer or retailer, we streamline the process and to keep your operations running smoothly.
- Excise Duty Optimisation: We work with you to identify opportunities for remissions, refunds, WET credits, and concessional schemes, ensuring you make the most of your duty position.
- Preparation and lodgement of excise returns: We can prepare and review excise returns and BAS reporting prior to lodgement, to support timely, accurate and compliant reporting in uncertain or complicated circumstances, including automation solutions for excise calculations, return preparation, lodgement workflows and payment processes.
- Compliance and Governance: Make sure excise risk is appropriately controlled. We can assist with compliance and governance through excise rate monitoring, compliance health checks, voluntary disclosures, ATO audit support, governance framework design, and robust record-keeping and substantiation, supported by data analytics and dashboard to provide greater visibility over excise positions, operational trends, anomalies, risk and opportunities.
- Product Classification: Accurate classification is key. We help you navigate the complexities to avoid penalties and leverage duty savings.
- Compliant Operations: From premises setup to accounting treatment, we ensure your operations meet all excise requirements, including systems reviews and implementation support to assess whether your current systems and processes are fit for purpose and aligned to you excise obligations.
- Import/Export Advice: Our insights on EEGs and drawback help you manage cross-border transactions with ease, including system integration support for EEGs across trade, customs and tax systems to improve data flow, reporting accuracy and compliance outcomes.
- Regulator Engagement: We facilitate productive discussions with the ATO, ABF, and liquor licensing bodies to keep your business compliant.
- Training & Development: Our 'excise school' equips your team with the knowledge to handle excise matters confidently.
Fuel & Petroleum Excise
Our Excise specialists can assist you with navigating the complex rules and requirements that apply to fuel and petroleum products, while identifying opportunities to manage risk and optimise outcomes. We can assist you with:
- Fuel and petroleum excise advisory to help you understand and apply the excise rules across production, storage, movement, importation and exportation of fuel and petroleum products
- Product Stewardship for Oil (PSO) advisory including guidance on PSO levy obligations for manufacturers and importers of petroleum-based oils, eligibility for product stewardship benefit payments for recyclers and re-refiners, and support with PSO claims, reporting and compliance under Product Stewardship (Oil) Act 2000.
- Blended fuels and biofuels advice including support on the excise treatment of blended products, calculation methodologies and compliance obligations.
- Fuel excise duty optimisation through identifying opportunities for remissions, refunds, drawback and access to concessional schemes, while ensuring compliance with legislative requirements.
- Preparation and lodgement of excise returns for fuel and petroleum products to support timely, accurate and compliant reporting, including automation solutions for excise calculations, lodgement workflows and payment processes.
- Excise Compliance and Governance: Make sure excise risk is appropriately controlled. We can assist with compliance and governance through excise rate monitoring, compliance health checks, voluntary disclosures, ATO audit support, governance framework design, and robust record-keeping and substantiation, supported by data analytics and dashboarding to provide greater visibility over excise positions, operational trends, anomalies, risk and opportunities.
- Product classification support for fuel and petroleum products to help determine the correct excise treatment, manage risk and support accurate reporting.
- Assistance with setting up excise-compliant fuel operations, including manufacturing sites, warehousing arrangements, record-keeping processes, governance controls and operating procedures, as well as systems reviews to assess whether your current systems and processes are fit for purpose and aligned to your fuel excise obligations.
- Import and export advice for fuel underbond movements, customs duty interaction and drawback considerations.
- ATO and Australian Border Force engagement on fuel excise issues, including assistance with rulings, technical submissions, dispute management and ongoing regulator interaction.
Fuel Tax Credits
FTC procedures can be highly technical and layered with risk. We can assist you with improving accuracy, maximising entitlements and strengthening compliance. We can assist you with:
- Fuel tax credits education and guidance through practical guides, tailored training and workshops to build internal capability and awareness.
- FTC eligibility assessments across business activities, fuel types, vehicle usage and non-fuel applications to determine entitlement positions.
- Review and optimisation of current FTC claims to identify missed opportunities, improve accuracy and reduce risk.
- FTC quantification and method selection including support with apportionment methodologies, actual use methods and accepted default approaches.
- Retrospective FTC reviews and amended BAS preparation to identify and recover underclaimed entitlements within the applicable four-year review period.
- FTC rate change management including support in relation to road user charge changes and the impact of rate updates on claims processes and outcomes.
- Data analysis and substantiation support using fuel data, GPS, telematics, fleet records and other operational datasets to strengthen calculation approaches and evidentiary support and claim accuracy. This includes FTC technology solutions developed through our joint business relationship with Fuel Tax Advisers Pty Ltd, designed to support more accurate and efficient claim processes.
- FTC compliance reviews to assess governance, methodology, documentation and reporting processes against ATO expectations and practical best practice, supported by data analytics and dashboarding to provide greater visibility over excise positions, operational trends, anomalies, risk and opportunities.
- Systems reviews and implementation support to assess whether your current systems and processes are fit for purpose and aligned to your FTC obligations
Excise obligations vary significantly across industries and product categories. We provide targeted support that reflects the commercial and regulatory realities of your sector, including high-level advice on tobacco-related matters. We can assist you with:
- Industry-specific excise advisory tailored to the needs of:
- breweries, distilleries and alcohol importers or distributors; and
- fuel producers, importers and distributors.
- EEG and customs duty obligations including assistance with understanding how excise-equivalent customs duties apply to imported tobacco products, supported by system integration across trade, customs and tax systems to improve data flow, reporting accuracy and compliance outcomes.
- Tobacco excise advisory including high-level support on the excise and customs issues relevant to tobacco products and supply chains.
- Licensing and import permit advice to help businesses understand and navigate requirements for dealing with controlled or excisable tobacco products.
- EEG and customs duty obligations including assistance with understanding how excise-equivalent customs duties apply to imported tobacco products.
- Advice on the interaction with import controls and public health regulation to help manage compliance risks across overlapping regulatory regimes.
Ready to optimise your excise and FTC position?
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