Statutory Instruments
2011 No. 2935
Excise
The Hydrocarbon Oil and Biofuels (Road Fuel in Defined Areas) (Reliefs) Regulations 2011
Made
7th December 2011
Laid before Parliament
8th December 2011
Coming into force
1st January 2012
The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs make the following regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 20AA of the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979(1):
Citation and commencementI1
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Hydrocarbon Oil and Biofuels (Road Fuel in Defined Areas) (Reliefs) Regulations 2011 and come into force on 1st January 2012.
InterpretationI2
2. In these Regulations—
[F1 “defined area” means an area specified in Schedule 1; F1]
“qualified claimant” has the meaning given in regulation 3;
“qualifying fuel” means—
hydrocarbon oil charged with a duty of excise under section 6(1A)(a) or (c) of the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979(2);
biodiesel charged with a duty of excise under section 6AA(3) of that Act;
bioblend charged with a duty of excise under section 6AB(4) of that Act; and
bioethnanol blend charged with a duty of excise under section 6AE(5) of that Act,
and in relation to which [F3no rebate has been given andF3] the duty charged has been paid.
Qualified claimantI3
3. A person is a qualified claimant if that person—
(a)supplies qualifying fuel by retail sale from premises situated in a defined area; and
(b)has notified the Commissioners of that fact and is registered by them to make a claim for relief.
ReliefI4
[F4 4. Relief is allowed in accordance with these Regulations in relation to qualifying fuel that has been purchased by a qualified claimant to be supplied by that person by retail sale from premises situated in a defined area.F4]
Amount and form of reliefI5
5. The amount of the relief shall be 5 pence per litre and shall be in the form of a repayment by the Commissioners to the qualified claimant.
Application for reliefI6
6.—(1) Relief is allowed only upon the written application of a qualified claimant.
(2) Each application must contain the particulars specified in [F5Schedule 2F5] and be made on a form provided by the Commissioners for the purpose.
(3) The qualified claimant must sign and date the form and declare that the information provided on it is true and complete.
[F6 (4) Unless, for reasonable cause, the Commissioners allow an application to be made at a later date, no relief shall be allowed if the application is received by the Commissioners later than 30 days after the end of the month to which it relates.F6]
ConditionsI7
7.—(1) Relief is allowed subject to the following conditions.
(2) The qualified claimant must—
(a)if so required by the Commissioners, provide to their satisfaction evidence of the purchase of the qualifying fuel in relation to which any application for relief is made;
(b)give to the person to whom the qualifying fuel is supplied [F7by retail sale from premises situated in a defined areaF7] a reduction in the price per litre that is equivalent to the relief per litre that has been claimed (or will be claimed) on it;
(c)keep and preserve such records as the Commissioners may specify.
(3) The condition in paragraph (2)(b) does not apply in relation to any qualifying fuel that is supplied in the period of 60 consecutive days commencing with the day on which the qualified claimant is first registered to make a claim for relief.
Cancellation of ReliefI8
8.—(1) If there is a failure to comply with any condition imposed by regulation 7 the relief allowed shall be cancelled.
(2) Where any relief is cancelled, any person who is a qualified claimant in relation to the application for relief shall, on demand, be liable to repay the amount of the relief.
Dave Hartnett
Mike Eland
Two of the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
7th December 2011
Regulation 2
[F8SCHEDULE 1 DEFINED AREAS
The Inner and Outer Hebrides
The Northern Isles
The Islands of the Clyde
The Isles of Scilly
The geographical area covered by the post town of Hawes, North Yorkshire (as at the 3rd March 2015)
The geographical areas covered by the following postcode districts in England (as at the 3rd March 2015)—
EX35
LA17
NE48
The geographical areas covered by the following postcode districts in Scotland (as at the 3rd March 2015)—
IV14
IV21
IV22
IV26
IV27
IV54
KW12
PA38
PA80
PH19
PH23
PH36
PH41 F8]
Regulation 6(2)
[F9SCHEDULE 2F9] PARTICULARS TO BE CONTAINED IN APPLICATION I9
The name, address and telephone number of the qualified claimant.
The month to which the application relates.
The total volume of unleaded petrol purchased by the qualified claimant in that month.
The total volume of heavy oil (diesel) purchased by the qualified claimant in that month.
The name of the person from whom the unleaded petrol and diesel was purchased.
The date on which the unleaded petrol and diesel was purchased.
The amount of the claim.
Note
In this Schedule the references to unleaded petrol and diesel include unleaded petrol and diesel which contains biodiesel, bioblend or bioethanol blend.
1979 c. 5; section 20AA was inserted by section 2(1) of the Finance Act 1989 (c. 26) and has been amended by the Finance Act 1993 (c. 34), Schedule 23, Part 1 (4), the Finance Act 1994 (c. 9), Schedule 4, Part 3, paragraphs 49 and 54, the Finance Act 2000 (c. 17), section 10(3) and the Finance Act 2008 (c. 9), Schedule 5, paragraph 17 and Schedule 6, paragraphs 24 and 30. The power to make Regulations under section 20AA is conferred on “the Commissioners”. By virtue of section 27(3) “the Commissioners” has the same meaning as given in the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (c. 2). Section 1(1) of that Act (as amended by the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005 (c. 11), Schedule 4, paragraphs 20 and 22 (b)) defines “the Commissioners” as “the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs”. Section 20AA of the Hydrocarbon Oils Duties Act 1979 provides that the Commissioners may make regulations allowing reliefs as regards any duty of excise which has been charged in respect of “hydrocarbon oil”. Section 6AC of that Act (which was inserted by the Finance Act 2002 (c. 23), section 5(4)) provides that the Commissioners may by regulations provide for references in the Act to hydrocarbon oil to be construed as including references to biodiesel and bioblend and for references to duty on hydrocarbon oil to be construed as including references to duty under sections 6AA and 6AB of the Act. Section 6AF of that Act (which was inserted by the Finance Act 2004 (c. 12) provides that the Commissioners may by regulations provide for references in the Act to hydrocarbon oil to be construed as including references to bioethanol blend and for references to duty on hydrocarbon oil to be construed as including references to duty under section 6AE of the Act. Regulation 3(1), (2) and (4) of the Biofuels and Other Fuel Substitutes (Payment of Excise Duties etc) Regulations 2004 (S.I. 2004/2065) (as amended by S.I. 2008/753) provides that references to hydrocarbon oil and to the duty on hydrocarbon oil in section 20AA(1)(a) of the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979 (c. 5) are to be construed as including references to biodiesel, bioblend and bioethanol blend and to the duty on those products.
Section 6(1A) was inserted by the Finance Act 1997 (c. 16), section 7(3) and substituted by the Finance Act 2008 (c. 9), section 13(3).
Section 6AA was inserted by the Finance Act 2002 (c. 23), section 5(4) and has been amended by the Finance Act 2004 (c. 12), section 11 and Schedule 42, Part 1(1), the Finance Act 2007 (c. 11), section 10(3), the Finance Act 2008 (c. 9), Schedule 5, paragraph 4 and the Finance Act 2010 (c. 13), section 12(1) and (3).
Section 6AB was inserted by the Finance Act 2002 (c. 23), section 5(4) and has been amended by the Finance Act 2008 (c. 9), Schedule 5, paragraph 5 and the Finance Act 2010 (c. 13), section 12(1) and (4).
Section 6AE was inserted by the Finance Act 2004 (c. 12), section 10(3) and has been amended by the Finance Act 2010 (c. 13), section 12(1) and (6).