15-70-425. Refund or credit authorized. (1) A person who purchases and uses any gasoline or special fuel on which the Montana gasoline or special fuel tax has been paid for denaturing ethanol to be used in ethanol-blended gasoline, operating stationary gasoline or special fuel engines used off the public roads and highways of this state, or for any commercial use other than operating vehicles on any of the public roads and highways of this state is allowed a refund of the amount of tax paid directly or indirectly on the gasoline or special fuel used if the person has records, as provided in 15-70-426, to prove nontaxable use. The refund may not exceed the tax paid or to be paid to the state. A refund is not allowed for the tax per gallon on aviation fuel allocated to the department of transportation as provided in 67-1-301.

(2) (a) The United States government, the state of Montana, any other state, or any county, incorporated city, town, or school district of this state is entitled to a refund of the taxes paid on special fuel regardless of the use of the special fuel.

(b) (i) A nonpublic school may use dyed special fuel in buses that are owned by the nonpublic school if the buses are used for the transportation of pupils solely for nonsectarian school-related purposes.

(ii) For the purposes of this subsection (2)(b), nonpublic schools are those schools that have been accredited pursuant to 20-7-102.

(3) A distributor who pays the gasoline or special fuel tax to this state erroneously is allowed a credit or refund of the amount of tax paid.

(4) (a) A distributor is entitled to a credit for the tax paid to the department on those sales of gasoline or special fuel with a tax liability of $200 or greater for which the distributor has not received consideration from or on behalf of the purchaser and for which the distributor has not forgiven any liability. The distributor shall have declared the accounts of the purchaser worthless not more than once during a 3-year period and claimed those accounts as bad debts for federal or state income tax purposes.

(b) If a credit has been granted under subsection (4)(a), any amount collected on the accounts declared worthless must be reported to the department and the tax due must be prorated on the collected amount and must be paid to the department.

(c) The department may require a distributor to submit periodic reports listing accounts that are delinquent for 90 days or more.

(5) A person who purchases and exports for sale, use, or consumption outside Montana any gasoline or special fuel on which the Montana gasoline or special fuel tax has been paid is entitled to a credit or refund of the amount of tax paid unless the person is not licensed and is not paying the tax to the state where fuel is destined. Upon completion of the reports required under 15-70-416, the department shall authorize the credit or refund.

History: En. Sec. 36, Ch. 525, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 15, Ch. 10, Sp. L. November 1993; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 569, L. 1995; amd. Sec. 8, Ch. 340, L. 1999; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 384, L. 2005; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 188, L. 2013; amd. Sec. 24, Ch. 220, L. 2015; Sec. 15-70-356, MCA 2013; redes. 15-70-425 by Sec. 41, Ch. 220, L. 2015; amd. Sec. 5, Ch. 455, L. 2019.