TAXATION OF SPECIAL FUELS USED IN THE PROPULSION OF MOTOR VEHICLES

M.G.L. pt. Part I, tit. Title IX, ch. c. 64E

in effect

M.G.L. c. 64E, § 1 Definitions

c. 64E, § 1. Definitions Section 1. The following words and phrases, as used in this chapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context otherwise requires:— (a) ''Commissioner'', the commissioner of revenue. [There is no paragraph (b).] (c) ''Special fuels'' shall mean and include all combustible gases and liquids, used or sold for use in an internal combustion engine or motor for the generation of power to propel motor vehicles registered for use on the public highways, except such fuels defined as ''Fuel'' in paragraph (d) of section one of chapter sixty-four A. (d) ''Supplier'', any person who sells or delivers special fuels to a user-seller and any person who imports special fuels into the commonwealth other than in the usual tank or receptacle connected with the engine of the motor vehicle in the operation of which the special fuels are to be consumed, and resells or uses the same in a motor vehicle owned or operated by such person, and any person who otherwise would be a user-seller and who has elected instead to qualify and be licensed as a supplier. (e) ''User-seller'', any person, not licensed as a supplier, who dispenses special fuel into the fuel tanks of, or attached to motor vehicles, including any such person who so dispenses special fuels for consumption in such motor vehicles owned, leased or operated by him. Any user-seller may, with the permission of the commissioner, elect instead to qualify and be licensed as a supplier. (f) ''User of special fuels'', any person, including a supplier or user-seller, who owns or leases any special fuels propelled motor vehicle operated over the highways of this commonwealth. (g) ''Use'' shall mean and include, in addition to its usual meaning, the receipt of special fuels by any person into a fuel supply tank of a registered motor vehicle or into a receptacle from which special fuels are supplied by any person to his own or other registered motor vehicles. (h) ''Motor vehicle'' shall include any vehicle propelled by any power other than muscular, except boats, tractors used exclusively for agricultural purposes and such vehicles as run only on rails or tracks. (i) ''Purchaser'' shall include, in addition to its usual meaning, a person who transfers special fuels into a motor vehicle, or into a receptacle from which special fuel is supplied by him to his own or other motor vehicles. (j) ''Sale'' shall include, in addition to its usual meaning, the transfer of special fuel by a supplier into a motor vehicle or into a receptacle from which special fuel is supplied by him to his own or other motor vehicles. (k) ''Liquified gas'', that type of special fuels which is a combustible gas and exists in the gaseous state at a temperature of 60° Fahrenheit and a pressure of 14.7 pounds per square inch absolute.

M.G.L. c. 64E, § 2 Licenses; prohibited acts; penalty; lists of licensees

c. 64E, § 2. Licenses; prohibited acts; penalty; lists of licensees Section 2. The commissioner may grant licenses to persons as user-sellers, suppliers, or users of special fuels in accordance with section sixty-seven of chapter sixty-two C. No person other than a licensed supplier shall maintain storage facilities for special fuels and dispense special fuels therefrom into any fuel tank attached to a motor vehicle unless such person is the holder of an uncancelled license as a user-seller issued by the commissioner. No person shall sell or deliver special fuels within this commonwealth to a licensed user-seller unless such person is the holder of an uncancelled license as a supplier issued by the commissioner. No person owning or leasing a motor vehicle propelled by special fuels shall use the highways of this commonwealth with said motor vehicle unless such person is the holder of an uncancelled license as a user of special fuels issued by the commissioner for each such motor vehicle. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to noncommercial passenger vehicles having a fuel tank capacity of not more than twenty-five gallons, self-propelled campers or auto homes used exclusively for noncommercial purposes. Whoever violates the provisions of this paragraph shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars. Any person charged with such a violation may, in writing without his presence in court, waive his right to trial, plead guilty and pay the maximum statutory penalty. Such waiver of the right to trial and plea of guilty shall be made on a form approved by the administrative justice of the district court department and shall be provided to each defendant by the appropriate division of the court department at the same time and in the same manner as the issuance of any summons. Any person who desires to waive his right to trial and to plead guilty without his appearance in court shall return such written waiver and plea together with payment of the maximum statutory penalty before the return day of such summons. The commissioner shall furnish each licensed supplier with a list of the names and business addresses of licensed user-sellers at the beginning of each calendar year and shall thereafter, during such year, supplement such list at least quarterly. The commissioner as a condition of issuing any license under this section may require that the applicant state, under the penalties of perjury, that he will purchase special fuels or accept delivery of special fuels only from a person licensed under this chapter.

M.G.L. c. 64E, § 3 Records and written statements

c. 64E, § 3. Records and written statements Section 3. Each licensee shall keep a complete and accurate record of all purchases, sales and use of special fuels, including the name and address of the person accepting delivery of said special fuels to be used in a vehicle for the propulsion over the highways, its place and date of delivery, the gross sales price or cost and the number of gallons of each type of special fuels purchased, sold and used and the complete and accurate record of the number of gallons imported, produced, refined, manufactured or compounded and the date of the importation, production, refining, manufacturing or compounding. Every licensee shall also present with every consignment of special fuels or delivery of the same to any person other than himself a written statement containing the date of the sale or use within the commonwealth, the date of delivery, the name of the person making the delivery and the name of the person receiving the same, the gross sales price and the number of gallons of each type of special fuel delivered and shall retain a duplicate of each such statement. In the case of use of special fuels by the licensee himself, he shall keep an accurate record of all the deliveries received by him and the names and addresses of the persons from whom he received the same, giving the dates of deliveries, the cost of each type of special fuels delivered and the number of gallons of each type involved in each delivery. Such records and written statements shall be in such form as commissioner shall prescribe and shall be preserved by said licensees for a period of three years and shall be offered for inspection at any time upon oral or written demand by the commissioner or his duly authorized agent.

M.G.L. c. 64E, § 4 Payments; tax rate

c. 64E, § 4. Payments; tax rate Section 4. At the time of filing a return required by section sixteen of chapter sixty-two C, every licensee other than a user shall pay to the commissioner an excise at the tax per gallon determined by the commissioner under chapter sixty-four A upon each gallon of special fuels sold or used by him in the commonwealth during the calendar month covered by the return. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the tax per gallon payable upon each gallon of liquified gas shall be separately determined by the commissioner, utilizing the same procedures as those used for fuel under chapter 64A, at a rate of 19.1 per cent of the average price computed to the nearest tenth of one per cent per gallon and such tax per gallon as so determined shall apply to each gallon of liquified gas sold or used by a licensee in the commonwealth during the calendar month covered by the return.

M.G.L. c. 64E, § 5 Reimbursement of excise paid; procedure, etc.

c. 64E, § 5. Reimbursement of excise paid; procedure, etc. Section 5. Any person who shall buy any special fuels on which an excise has been paid or is chargeable under this chapter, and shall consume the same in any manner except in the operation of motor vehicles upon or over highways, whether or not such vehicles are registered under the provisions of section five of chapter ninety, shall be reimbursed the amount of said excise in the manner and subject to the conditions hereinafter set forth; provided, however, that any turnpike constructed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation in accordance with chapter three hundred and fifty-four of the acts of nineteen hundred and fifty-two, as amended, shall not be considered a highway for the purposes of this chapter until such turnpike shall have become a part of the state highway system as provided in section seventeen of said chapter three hundred and fifty-four. All claims for reimbursement shall be for not less than one dollar, shall be made by affidavit in such form and containing such information as the commission shall prescribe, shall be accompanied by original invoices or sales receipts of special fuels and in the case of claims for reimbursement for tax on special fuels consumed on said turnpike, shall be made with respect to a calendar half year and shall be accompanied by the toll receipts given to users of said turnpike or invoices rendered to such users by said Authority. All claims for reimbursement shall be filed with the commissioner within two years from the date of purchase or invoice of special fuels. Such toll receipts given to users of said turnpike or invoices rendered to such users by the said Authority shall be accepted by the commissioner as evidence of the use on said turnpike of special fuels in the proportion of one gallon for each fifteen miles of indicated travel by passenger cars, ambulances, hearses, motorcycles and light trucks, and in the proportion of one gallon for each five miles of indicated travel by all other trucks and buses. No claims for reimbursement for tax on special fuels consumed on said turnpike shall be allowed unless it shall appear from said toll receipts or invoices and from said invoices or sales receipts of special fuels that the purchase of the special fuels which is the basis for the claim of reimbursement took place on the same or any one of the three preceding calendar days as the travel on said turnpike or unless evidence satisfactory to the commission is furnished that such special fuels were transferred from bulk to the vehicle tank within the same period. The commissioner may require such further information as he shall deem necessary for the determination of such claims, and shall transmit all claims approved by him to the comptroller for certification; and the amount approved by the commissioner and certified as aforesaid shall be paid forthwith from the proceeds of the excise tax levied under this chapter, without specific appropriation. Reimbursement under this section shall include special fuels bought by any person engaged in the business of farming on which an excise has been paid or is chargeable under this chapter where such special fuel is consumed for farm purposes and is eligible for refund of the federal special fuels tax paid on account of such fuel pursuant to section sixty-four hundred and twenty of the Federal Internal Revenue Code.

M.G.L. c. 64E, § 6 to 8 Repealed, 1976, 415, Sec. 109

M.G.L. c. 64E, § 9 Foreign and interstate commerce

c. 64E, § 9. Foreign and interstate commerce Section 9. No provision of this chapter shall apply or be construed to apply to foreign or interstate commerce, except in so far as the same may be permitted under the provisions of the constitution and laws of the United States.

M.G.L. c. 64E, § 10 Purchaser required to bear tax burden; penalty

c. 64E, § 10. Purchaser required to bear tax burden; penalty Section 10. Except as otherwise provided in section five, the tax in every instance shall be borne by the purchaser, and no person offering special fuels for sale shall sell, advertise or offer for sale said special fuels separately from the tax imposed by this chapter. For any violation of this section, the license to keep and sell crude petroleum or any of its products, issued by the licensing authority under chapter one hundred and forty-eight, shall be suspended by the said authority on request of the commissioner for such time as said commissioner deems proper.

M.G.L. c. 64E, § 11 Penalty for violations

c. 64E, § 11. Penalty for violations Section 11. Any person who violates any provision of this chapter, for which a penalty is not otherwise provided, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for one year, or both.

M.G.L. c. 64E, § 12 Actions to restrain collection on sales exempted under federal law

c. 64E, § 12. Actions to restrain collection on sales exempted under federal law Section 12. The supreme judicial or the superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity to restrain the collection, upon any sale exempted by the constitution and laws of the United States, of the excise imposed by this chapter. The bill shall be brought against the commissioner, whether the question of the collection of the excise is in the hands of the attorney general or pending before the appellate tax board or is still in the hands of the commissioner.

M.G.L. c. 64E, § 13 Disposition of funds received

c. 64E, § 13. Disposition of funds received Section 13. All sums received under this chapter as excises, penalties, forfeitures, interest, costs of suits and fines shall be credited to the Commonwealth Transportation Fund to be used for transportation-related purposes.

M.G.L. c. 64E, § 14 Change of status of licensee; notice

c. 64E, § 14. Change of status of licensee; notice Section 14. Whenever any licensee ceases to be a supplier or user-seller within the commonwealth by reason of the discontinuance, sale or transfer of the business of such licensee, he shall give notice thereof in writing to the commissioner. Such notice shall contain the date of discontinuance, and, in the event of a sale or transfer of the business, the date thereof and the name and address of the purchaser or transferee thereof. All taxes, penalties and interest due and payable under this chapter and current taxes shall, notwithstanding such provisions, become due and payable concurrently with such discontinuance, sale or transfer, and any such licensee shall make a return and pay all such taxes, interest and penalties, and shall surrender to the commissioner his license. Unless such notice is given to the commissioner, the purchaser or transferee shall be liable to the commonwealth for the amount of all taxes, penalties and interest accrued under this chapter on the date of such sale or transfer against any such licensee, but only to the extent of the value of the property thereby acquired from such licensee.

M.G.L. c. 64E, § 15 Penalties for sale or acquisition of unlicensed fuels

c. 64E, § 15. Penalties for sale or acquisition of unlicensed fuels Section 15. Any person not licensed under this chapter who delivers to any person other than a licensee under this chapter special fuels upon which the tax due hereunder has not been paid, knowing, or who reasonably should know, that such special fuel is to be used or sold for the purpose of propelling motor vehicles on the public highways, shall be liable for the tax imposed by this chapter. Any user who shall acquire special fuels in the commonwealth for the purpose of propelling motor vehicles owned or leased by him on the highways of this commonwealth upon which special fuels the tax due hereunder has not been paid shall be liable for the tax imposed by this chapter, and the commissioner may collect said tax either from the seller thereof or from said user of special fuels.

M.G.L. c. 64E, § 16 Repealed, 1976, 415, Sec. 109

Source: Massachusetts General Court (malegislature.gov)URL: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter64EFetched: 10/20/2026