Fuel Tax Refund

Click either of the two links below to go to the Form to apply for a Fuel Tax Refund.  (Off-road use only. See form.)

State of Rhode Island Division of Taxation
Form T-59 Claim for Refund of Motor Fuel Tax

Per the State of Rhode Island Division of Taxation Department of Revenue Motor Fuel Tax page:

Taxable fuels include gasoline, diesel, liquid propane, and other volatile and inflammable liquids used or suitable for use for operating or propelling motor vehicles. Exempt fuels include lubricating oils, diesel fuel for the propulsion of marine craft, fuels used for the propulsion of airplanes, oils used for heating purposes and alternative fuels used by fleets consisting of 10 or more alternative fueled vehicles.

Under certain conditions, refunds of Rhode Island Motor Fuel Tax already paid may be made to licensed commercial fishermen, persons, firms or corporations who purchase fuel for pumping, intaking or discharging sea or bay waters for maintaining fish, shellfish or lobsters; farmers, lumbermen, manufacturers who use diesel for the manufacture of power; water well drillers; persons or companies who use fuel for marine purposes (excluding pleasure craft); and municipalities and sewer commissions or agencies which use fuel in the operation of sewer treatment plants. All claims for refund must be filed within 240 days from the date of purchase.

Relevant RIGL: § 31-36-15.  Refunds of motor fuel tax: (a) (1) Commercial fishing operators who shall use fuels for propelling boats used principally in the business of commercial fishing for which certificates of registration have been issued by the department of environmental management for use in the commercial catching of marine fish, shellfish, or lobsters; (2) persons, firms, or corporations who or which shall use fuel for marine purposes, including in it fuel used in boats operated commercially for carrying passengers or freight but excluding from it fuels used in the operation or propulsion of pleasure craft, and further including persons, firms or corporations who purchase fuel for pumping, intaking, or discharging sea or bay waters for maintaining fish, shellfish, or lobsters; (3) lumber harvesters who shall use fuel for the operation of stationary engines, tractors, and other motor vehicles used in the course of lumbering in the forest or woods and which are not registered for use or used on public highways; (4) water well drillers who shall use fuel for the operation of stationary engines or drilling apparatus in the course of boring or drilling wells and not registered for use on the public highways; (5) farmers who shall use fuel for the operation of stationary engines, tractors, and other motor vehicles which are used in agricultural work on the farm of the claimant and which are not registered for use or used on public highways; (6) manufacturers who use fuels, except gasoline and diesel engine fuel, as industrial raw material and who use diesel engine fuel for the manufacture of power; and (7) municipalities and sewer commissions or their agencies which use fuel in the operation of stationary engines and motor vehicles which are not registered for use on public highways in the operation of sewer treatment plants; may file the claim for reimbursement of tax in the same manner as prescribed in § 31-36-13, and shall be reimbursed by the state upon proof satisfactory to the tax administrator that the fuel was used as prescribed in this section.