Some of us could be saving 17 cents a gallon our our motor fuels. Sorry, though—-this does not apply to most of us.
Thousands of Missourians are eligible to get refunds of 17 cents for every gallon of motor fuel they buy—if it goes into vehicles used in farming, construction work, or recreational boating.
Any fuel bought for off-road use is exempt from the state tax, including fuel for people who mow yards as a business, or make a living using gas-powered chain saws, and others. .
The revenue department’s David Griffith says farmers and people in construction are familiar enough with the law that most of them file for the refunds. But he says thousands of boaters don’t file.
Word is getting around, though. Griffith says the high price of gas is leading marina owners to make fuel purchasers more aware of refund opportunities.
Griffith says many boaters think they have to fill up at lake marinas to claim the refund. Not so. They can get their fuel at gas stations—separately from the fillup of their cars. And they need to make sure they get receipts, no matter where. But the figures say something—only one-million dollars was refunded last year to operators of almost 700-thousand boats in Missouri.
Boaters are eligible for the refund because the fuel they use is not used on roads–and the fuel taxes finance road-building.
Who gets the money that is not refunded? Counties with more than 100 miles of shoreline and the cities in them get the money that taxpayers don’t claim.