The ATA’s 2026-27 pre-budget submission urges the Government to reject the Productivity Commission’s recommendation to phase out access to fuel tax credits for heavy vehicles travelling on public roads.
The submission argues that the Government should retain fuel tax credits for on-road heavy vehicles in the 2026-27 budget and beyond, because:
- the recommendation would impose a general tax on a business input, fuel, which would be economically inefficient. Fuel tax credits are not a subsidy
- based on the commission’s own figures, the effective fuel tax paid by trucking businesses would more than double from 32.4 cents per litre now to 66.1 cents per litre in 2035. Many trucking businesses would not be able to pay this tax increase
- it would increase costs for industry, our rural exporters and consumers. It ignores the other pricing pressures facing hard-pressed Australian households
- abolishing fuel tax credits would not achieve the commission’s aim of reducing the industry’s emissions, because it would not address the barriers to businesses adopting low emission solutions.
The submission sets out an alternative approach to the reducing the industry’s emissions.
It also recommends an alternative approach to road user charging reform, including an invoice-based road user charge for electric light and heavy vehicles.