Fuel for thought: how Kiwi businesses can claim back thousands on petrol

Fuel can be a significant business cost at the best of times but as of April 2026, petrol prices have jumped significantly across New Zealand. With experts noting a 20% increase in just weeks, pump prices have been pushed well over NZ$3.00 a litre.

For small businesses in sectors like farming, trades, and forestry, these rising costs can put a real squeeze on your margins. But, what many business owners don’t realise is that they may be paying a road tax – known as Fuel Excise Duty – for fuel that never touches a public road.

If your business uses petrol for off-road machinery or commercial vessels, you are entitled to get that money back. Reclaiming these costs can make a major difference to your cash flow, with initial back-claims potentially ranging between NZ$3,000 and NZ$20,000.

What is fuel excise duty?

Every litre of petrol includes a tax designed to maintain public roads. However, if you rely on petrol to run equipment off the road, you needn’t be stuck paying it.

You may be eligible to claim a refund of 76¢ per litre plus GST if you use petrol for purposes such as:

• Agriculture and farming, including quad bikes, chainsaws, and pumps
• Trades and landscaping, including mowers, concrete cutters, and generators
• Marine operations, including commercial boating

Your accountants and bookkeepers may not typically handle these specialised excise duty claims, because it requires specific industry expertise, and it often becomes a hidden refund opportunity that businesses miss out on.

Simplify your refunds with PR Claims

PR Claims is a specialist help service in Aotearoa that focuses exclusively on maximising these specific Land Transport NZ refunds. Instead of adding extra administrative tasks to your day, they handle the paperwork and deal with the compliance side of your quarterly application.

Working with a specialist brings several advantages:

• success-based model, meaning there is no upfront fee and you don’t pay if you don’t get a refund
• historical claims lookback, allowing you to find unclaimed money from up to two years ago
• established relationships and a proven track record with Transport NZ

The Xero integration advantage

To make the refund process even easier, PR Claims connects directly to your Xero account. If you already enter your fuel supplier bills into Xero, the connection removes the manual paperwork.

When you connect the two platforms, PR Claims can securely pull your relevant fuel invoice data directly from your Xero transactions. This includes automated data flows from major suppliers like Farmlands, FarmSource, RD1, BP, and Z Energy. The system downloads attached PDFs to view line-item detail, applies the eligibility rules, and prepares your quarterly application.

PR Claims operates on a read-only basis, meaning it only requests the specific permissions required to identify fuel data and won’t write anything back to your Xero account. It also maintains secure records for the seven years required by law, giving you a clear audit trail within your accounting platform.

Unlock your Xero customer discount

Xero customers who connect through the Xero App Store receive a discounted service fee of 12.5%, compared to the standard 15% fee. Since PR Claims operates on a success-based model, there is no risk to trying it.

Don’t leave your business’s money in the government’s tank. Check your eligibility with PR Claims today and unlock your Xero-exclusive discount by visiting the PR claims listing on the Xero App Store.