Off-Highway Business Use A credit or refund may be allowed for the excise tax on fuel usedfor an off-highway business use. Thira accommodationOff-highway business use is any use of fuel in a trade or businessor in an income-producing activity. It does not include use in ahighway vehicle registered or required to be registered for use onpublic highways. Do not consider any use in a boat as an off-highwaybusiness use. Caution: If undyed diesel fuel or undyed kerosene is used on a farm forfarming purposes (discussed earlier) or for the exclusive use of astate or local government, the fuel is not used in an off-highwaybusiness use. Examples.Off-highway business use includes fuels used in any of thefollowing ways. In stationary machines such as generators, compressors,power saws, and similar equipment. For cleaning purposes. In forklift trucks, bulldozers, and earthmovers. In vehicles engaged in construction, mining, or timberingactivities if the vehicles are neither registered nor required to beregistered. Generally, it does not include nonbusiness, off-highway use offuel, such as use by minibikes, snowmobiles, power lawn mowers, chainsaws, and other yard equipment. Example.Joanna owns a landscaping business. She uses power lawn mowers andchain saws in her business. The gasoline used in the power lawn mowersand chain saws qualifies as fuel used in an off-highway business use.The gasoline used in her personal lawn mower at home does not qualify. Highway vehicle.A highway vehicle is any self-propelled vehicle designed to carry aload over public highways, whether or not also designed to performother functions. Examples of vehicles designed to carry a load overpublic highways are passenger automobiles, motorcycles, buses,highway-type trucks, and truck tractors. A vehicle is a highwayvehicle even though the vehicle's design allows it to perform ahighway transportation function for only one of the following. A particular type of load, such as passengers, furnishings,and personal effects (as in a house, office, or utilitytrailer). A special kind of cargo, goods, supplies, or materials. Some off-highway task unrelated to highway transportation,except as discussed next. Vehicles not considered highway vehicles.Generally, the following kinds of vehicles are not consideredhighway vehicles. Specially designed mobile machinery for nontransportationfunctions. A self-propelled vehicle is not a highway vehicle if allthe following apply. inn reservation HeraklionThe chassis has permanently mounted to it machinery orequipment used to perform certain operations (construction,manufacturing, drilling, mining, timbering, processing, farming, orsimilar operations) if the operation of the machinery or equipment isunrelated to transportation on or off the public highways. The chassis has been specially designed to serve only as amobile carriage and mount for the machinery or equipment, whether ornot the machinery or equipment is in operation. The chassis could not, because of its special design andwithout substantial structural modification, be used as part of avehicle designed to carry any other load. Vehicles designed for off-highway transportation. Aself-propelled vehicle is not a highway vehicle if both of thefollowing apply. The vehicle is designed primarily to carry a specific kindof load other than over the public highway for certain operations(construction, manufacturing, mining, processing, farming, drilling,timbering, or similar operations). The vehicle's use in carrying this load over public highwaysis substantially limited or impaired because of its design. Todetermine if the use is substantially limited or impaired, you maytake into account whether the vehicle may travel at regular highwayspeeds, requires a special permit for highway use, or is overweight,overheight, or overwidth for regular highway use. Public highway.A public highway includes any road in the United States that is nota private roadway. This includes federal, state, county, and cityroads and streets. Registered.A vehicle is considered registered when it is registered orrequired to be registered for highway use under the law of any state,the District of Columbia, or any foreign country in which it isoperated or situated. Any highway vehicle operated under a dealer'stag, license, or permit is considered registered. A highway vehicle isnot considered registered solely because a special permit allows thevehicle to be operated at particular times and under specifiedconditions. Fuel used for power take-offs.Off-highway business use does not include any fuel used in thepropulsion motor of a registered highway vehicle even though thatmotor also operates special equipment by a power take-off or powertransfer. It does not matter if the special equipment is mounted onthe vehicle. Example.The motor of a registered concrete-mixer truck operates both theengine and the mixing unit by a power take-off. The fuel used in themotor to run the mixer is not used in an off-highway business use. Separate motor.Off-highway business use includes fuel used in a separate motor tooperate special equipment, such as a refrigeration unit, pump,generator, or mixing unit. If you draw fuel from the same tank tooperate both motors, you must figure the quantity used in the separatemotor operating the special equipment. You may make a reasonableestimate based on your operating experience and supported by yourrecords. You can use devices that measure the miles the vehicle has traveled(such as hubometers) to figure the gallons of fuel used to propel thevehicle. Add to this amount the fuel consumed while idling or warmingup the motor before propelling the vehicle. The difference betweenyour total fuel used and the fuel used to propel the vehicle is thefuel used in the separate motor. Example.Sara owns a refrigerated truck. It has a separate motor for therefrigeration unit. The same tank supplies both motors. Using thetruck's hubometer, Sara figures that 90% of the fuel was used topropel the truck. Therefore, 10% of the fuel is used in an off-highwaybusiness use. Fuel lost or destroyed.You cannot treat fuel lost or destroyed through spillage, fire, orother casualty as fuel used in an off-highway business use.