Apply for relief from energy tax for agricultural and forestry enterprises

Energy tax is a consumption tax levied on coal, gas, oil and other energy products. The energy tax is a self-assessment tax. This means that anyone who has to pay the tax must submit a tax return to the relevant main customs office and calculate the energy tax themselves. You must also calculate any tax relief yourself.

As an agricultural and forestry business, you can have part of the energy tax already paid on gas oil, vegetable oil or biodiesel refunded or reimbursed.

One of the prerequisites for tax relief is that you use the fuels for which you wish to claim tax relief as part of your daily work in agriculture and forestry, for example by using agricultural tractors or other machinery and vehicles that are needed in agriculture and forestry.

The following relief rates apply to this so-called agricultural diesel allowance:

• Gas oil: EUR 0.21480 per liter
• Vegetable oil: EUR 0.45000 per liter
• Biodiesel: EUR 0.45033 per liter

There are two restrictions for gas oil:

• Businesses that carry out agricultural and forestry work for other businesses do not receive tax relief on gas oil.
• Beekeeping businesses can receive tax relief for a maximum of 15 liters of gas oil per bee colony.

Requirements

• Your business must be active in agriculture or forestry, i.e.
  
  • Your business cultivates agricultural or forestry land, also in connection with animal husbandry or
  • you operate
    
    • a beekeeping business or
    • a transhumance sheep farm or
    • a pond farm or
    • a pumping station for the irrigation and drainage of agricultural and forestry land or
  • Your business carries out work for one of these businesses, for example as a contract business, cooperative business, business of a machinery association or as a water and soil association.
• The tax relief is considered state aid. You must therefore meet the relevant requirements under state aid law.
• The total amount of relief for gas oil, vegetable oil and biodiesel must be at least EUR 50.00 per calendar year.

What documents do I need?

• Receipts or delivery certificates for energy products received for beneficiary and nonbeneficiary purposes, including.
  
  • Addresses of the consignee and the supplier,
  • date of delivery, quantity delivered and
  • the amount to be paid
• to the extent that you, as the applicant, are required to do so: Records for all beneficiary vehicles and machines showing the date and scope of the work performed and the volume of energy products consumed
• for beekeepers: a colony declaration as proof of the number of colonies (form ZSA 143)
• Certificates of contract work and neighborhood assistance and the gas oil consumed in the process (Form ZSA 148).