Section R17-8-601. Definitions and General Provisions

A.       Definitions. The following definitions apply to this Article unless otherwise specified:

“Application” means a request for refund of motor fuel taxes, made on a form provided by the Division.

“Authorized representative” means a person who has authority to file an application on behalf of the Claimant, as authorized by a notarized power of attorney.

“Card lock use fuel facility” has the same meaning as a vendor as prescribed under A.R.S. § 28-5601(40), and satisfies requirements under A.R.S. § 28-5605.

“Claimant” means the taxpayer or an authorized repre- sentative of the taxpayer, also referred to as applicant.

“Complete application” means an application that includes supporting documentation and schedules, Claimant signature, and provides all information required on the application.

“Contaminated Fuel” means motor fuel under A.R.S. § 28-5601(18), which is accidentally tainted, and which is unsalable for highway use.

“Declaration of Status” means a statement on a form pro- vided by the Division that a light class or exempt use class vehicle qualifies for use fuel tax differential under A.R.S. § 28-5606(B)(2).

“Daily log” means notations made by a driver of a com- mercial motor vehicle which records a daily record of duty status as specified under 49 CFR 395.5.

“Destination state” means a state in the United States, other than the state of Arizona.

“Diversion” means delivery of motor fuel to a destination state other than the intended destination as signified on a carrier bill of lading.

“Exempt use class motor vehicle” means a vehicle exempt from gross weight fees under A.R.S. § 28-5432.

“GPS” means a Global Positioning System of satellites and receiving devices used to compute vehicle position and time information.

“Highway” has the meaning prescribed under A.R.S. § 28-5601(11), and also includes a:

Port of entry, Weigh station, or Public rest area.

“Idle status” means a vehicle that is stationary, its engine continues to operate, and it is located in Arizona, but off- highway.

“Light class motor vehicle” has the same meaning as pre- scribed under A.R.S. § 28-5601(17).

“Licensee” has the same meaning as prescribed under

A.R.S. § 28-5613.

“Mexican Pedimento” means an authorizing permit docu- ment issued by Mexico’s state-owned, nationalized petro- leum company.

“Motor fuel” has the meaning prescribed under A.R.S. § 28-5601(18).

“Motor fuel tax” means any tax on motor fuel imposed under A.R.S. Title 28, Chapter 16, Article 1.

“Notification date” means the date on a notice sent by the Division.

“Off-highway” means any location that is not on a high- way in this state.

“Person” has the same meaning prescribed under A.R.S.

§ 28-5601(21).

“Power-take-off” means the operation of vehicle- mounted, auxiliary equipment that is powered by energy supplied by the same engine that propels the motor vehi- cle, but does not include equipment related to the opera- tion of a vehicle and powered by the vehicle’s engine, including air conditioning, alternator, automatic transmis- sion, and power steering.

“Tribal agreement” means an agreement between the Division and a Native American tribe for the administra- tion of motor fuel taxes.

“Trip” means travel within or through Arizona’s state borders with a designated beginning and ending location.

“Use class motor vehicle” has the meaning prescribed under A.R.S. § 28-5601(37).

“Use fuel” has the same meaning as prescribed under A.R.S. § 28-5601(38).

“Use fuel tax differential” means the difference between the use fuel tax rate applicable to light class motor vehi- cles or exempt use class motor vehicles, and the use fuel tax rate applicable to use class motor vehicles.

“Vendor” has the same meaning as prescribed under A.R.S. § 28-5601(40).

“VIN” means Vehicle Identification Number.

B.       General Provisions.

1.        Scope. For purposes of administering A.R.S. § 28-5612 this Article applies to a person or licensee under A.R.S.

§§ 28-5612 and 28-5613.

2.        Application.

a.         A complete application for refund of motor fuel tax shall be submitted to the Division.

b.        An application for refund for an amount of $10 or less:

i.         Shall be accepted only once within a consecu- tive six-month period, and

ii.        If the aggregate monthly total of a request for refund is less than $10 the applicant may com- bine several month’s totals on one request for refund.

c.         A Claimant shall submit to the Division a separate application for refund for each calendar month.

d.        When the Division determines that an application is incomplete under these rules and A.R.S. Title 28, Chapter 16, Article 1, the Division shall suspend processing of the application for refund and

i.         Notify the Claimant of the deficiencies, and

ii.        Return the application to the Claimant.

e.         A Claimant whose application is returned as incom- plete under A.R.S. Title 28, Chapter 16, Article 1 and these rules shall have 60 days from the notifica- tion date to remedy the deficiencies.

f.         If the Claimant fails to remedy the deficiencies under subsection (B)(2)(d) within 60 days of the notification date and return a complete application, the Division shall deny the application for refund.

g.        If the Division denies an application because the Claimant failed to remedy a deficiency, the deadline to submit a new application shall be governed by the time-frames established in subsection (B)(3).

3.        Application filing. A complete application for  refund shall be submitted to the Division as provided within the following table:

Refund Type	Claimant Status
Sections	Licensee		Non-Licensee
R17-8-602. Exports	3 years from date of export		3 months from date of export
R17-8-603. Use Fuel Vendor	3 years from date of sale		6 months from date of sale
R17-8-604. Off-Highway	3 years from date of purchase		6 months from date of purchase
R17-8-606. Indian Tribal Government	If no Tribal Agreement with the Division, 6 months from date of purchase
R17-8-607. Indian Tribal Member
R17-8-608.  Transport   of  Forest  Products; Healthy Forest Initiative	March 1st of the year following calendar year consumed
R17-8-609. Motor Vehicle Fuel Used in Air- craft	6 months from date of purchase
R17-8-610. Motor Vehicle Fuel Losses Caused by Fire, Theft, Accident, or Contam- ination	3 years from date of event	6 months from date of event
R17-8-611. Bulk Purchase of Motor Fuel	3 years	6 months

4.        Filing location and timely filing. A Claimant shall submit an application under this Article to the Division as pro- vided under A.R.S. § 1-218, and this subsection:

a.         Hand delivered, certified or registered mail:

i.         Arizona Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division

Fuel, Licensing, & Refund Compliance Unit 1801 W. Jefferson St., Rm. 201

Phoenix, AZ 85007;

ii.        Hand delivered: the Division time and date stamp will be used to determine whether a com- plete   application   was   received   within  the

required time-frames established under subsec- tion (B)(3).

iii.      Certified or registered mail: the date of receipt by the designated delivery service shall be used to determine whether an application was received by the Division within the required time-frame established under subsection (B)(3).

b.        United States Postal Service:

i.         Arizona Department of Transportation, Motor Vehicle Division

Fuel, Licensing, & Refund Compliance Unit, Mail Drop 521M

P.O. Box 2100 Phoenix, AZ 85001

ii.        The postmark date will be used to determine whether an application was received by the Division within the required time-frames estab- lished under subsection (3).

5.        Supporting documentation.

a.         The Division shall accept any of the following forms of documentation to support a claim for refund, which may be admissible to the same extent as an original:

i.         Photocopies,

ii.        Duplicates, or

iii.      Document image.

b.        The Division shall not return documentation submit- ted to support an application for refund once an application for refund has been accepted as com- plete.

c.         If the Division determines that the supporting docu- mentation required under these rules does not pro- vide sufficient evidence of motor fuel tax paid, the Division may require the Claimant to produce addi- tional information.

d.        Failure to produce additional documentation as requested by the Division, within the time pre- scribed under R17-8-601(B)(2)(e), shall result in a denial of refund request being issued by the Divi- sion.

6.        Record retention and review.

a.         A licensee shall maintain the records relied upon to support the application for refund as specified under

A.R.S. Title 28, Chapter 16, Article 1 and these rules, and  produce those records to  the Division when requested.

b.        Unless required by A.R.S. Title 28, Chapter 16 to maintain records relied upon to substantiate an application for refund for a shorter or longer period of time, a licensee shall retain the records required to support an application for refund for three years from the issuance date of refund by the Division.

c.         The Division reserves the right to review a Claim- ant’s records used to substantiate an application for refund under these rules.

7.        If at any time, the Division discovers an overpayment of motor fuel tax refunded to a Claimant under these rules, the Division shall recover payment under A.R.S. § 28- 5612.

8.        Notification; violation; suspension; administrative hear- ing.

a.         Denial of request for refund. If the Division denies an applicant’s request for refund the Division shall send notification of denial to the Claimant.

b.        Administrative Hearings. Hearings, rehearings, and appeals shall be noticed and conducted in accor- dance with A.R.S. § 28-5924 and A.A.C Title 17, Chapter 1, Article 5.

c.         Suspension due to violation of A.R.S. § 28-5612.

i.         If the Division finds that a Claimant is in viola- tion of A.R.S. § 28-5612, the Division shall send notification to the Claimant identifying the violation.

ii.        A Claimant determined by the Division to be in violation of state laws and regulations under

A.R.S. § 28-5612 and these rules, may be sus-

pended from filing motor tax fuel refunds for six consecutive months from the notification date of the Division for motor fuel tax paid dur- ing the suspension period.

iii.      If a suspension is set aside under A.R.S. § 28- 5612, a Claimant may again apply to the Divi- sion for refund.

iv.       The time-frame requirements under subsection (B)(3) shall not toll while pursuit of remedy by the Claimant or the Division under this subsec- tion.

Historical Note

New Section made by final rulemaking at 14 A.A.R. 399, effective March 8, 2008 (Supp. 08-1).