A new law going into effect in the new year may affect tax-exempt fleets who use a credit card or a fleet fueling card to purchase gasoline. Tax-exempt customers may be unable to continue to use these payment methods without being charged federal taxes at the pump. As part of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, gasoline marketers and fleet card issuers that do not meet the criteria for ‘ultimate vendor´ status on and after January 1, 2005 may no longer be able to sell gasoline without immediately collecting federal excise taxes from the consumer. Many gasoline marketers and fleet card issuers who currently do not collect federal excise taxes on gasoline sales may have to start collecting gasoline taxes under the new Act in the same way that they collect for diesel and kerosene sales. FleetCor said in a statement that qualified tax-exempt customers using its Fuelman fleet fueling card to purchase gasoline for non-taxable purposes can continue to buy gas without being charged federal excise taxes. FleetCor will continue to file for the refund of federal excise taxes on gasoline. Wright Express, the nation´s leading provider of charge cards for company fleets, has not issued an official statement on the new criteria, though a spokesperson for the company told Business Fleet that the service of billing net of tax for Wright Express tax-exempt gasoline buyers will continue, and that the company is expanding its tax-exempt program to include diesel fuel.
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