State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Vermont > Title-33 > Chapter-25 > 2503
§ 2503. Fuel gross receipts tax
(a) There is imposed a gross receipts tax of 0.5 percent on the retail sale of the following types of fuel by sellers receiving more than $10,000.00 annually for the sale of such fuels:
(1) heating oil, kerosene, and other dyed diesel fuel not used to propel a motor vehicle;
(2) propane;
(3) natural gas;
(4) electricity;
(5) coal.
(b) The tax shall be levied upon and collected quarterly from the seller. Fuel sellers may include the following message on their bills to customers:
"The amount of this bill includes a 0.5% gross receipts tax, enacted in 1990, for support of Vermont's low income home weatherization program."
(c) The tax shall be administered by the commissioner of taxes, and all receipts shall be deposited by the commissioner in the home weatherization assistance trust fund. All provisions of law relating to the collection, administration and enforcement of the sales and use tax imposed by chapter 233 of Title 32 shall apply to the tax imposed by this chapter.
(d) [Repealed.]
(e) Fuel sellers, which are regulated "companies" as defined in subsection 201(a) of Title 30, which provide conservation programs that meet the goals of the weatherization program in a manner approved by the public service board, and which enhance the weatherization program's capacity to serve low income households may be eligible for rebates from the fuel gross receipts tax imposed under this section. To establish rebate eligibility, such a company shall file with the public service board, on or before August 15 of each year, a request for approval of rebates based on the company's activities during the prior fiscal year. The public service board shall make a determination of the amount of rebate for each applicant on or before January 15 of each year, and such amount shall be rebated by the state economic opportunity office under the provisions of subsection (g) of this section. The public service board shall authorize rebates equal to the expenditures undertaken by the regulated utilities provided that such expenditures were prudently incurred and cost-effective, that they provided weatherization services following a comprehensive energy audit and work plan, except in cases where the fuel seller and weatherization staff jointly conclude that the need for weatherization services can be determined without a comprehensive energy audit, and that they were targeted to households at or below 150 percent of the federally-established poverty guidelines.
(f) Unregulated fuel sellers that provide conservation programs that meet the goals of the weatherization program in a manner approved by the state economic opportunity office and which enhance the weatherization program's capacity to serve low income households may be eligible for rebates from the fuel gross receipts tax imposed under this section. To establish rebate eligibility, such a company shall file with the state economic opportunity office, on or before August 15 of each year, a request for approval of rebates based on the company's activities during the prior fiscal year. The state economic opportunity office shall make a determination of the amount of rebate for each applicant on or before January 15 of each year, and such amount shall be rebated by the state economic opportunity office under the provisions of this subsection. The state economic opportunity office shall authorize rebates equal to the expenditures undertaken by the unregulated fuel sellers provided that such expenditures were prudently incurred and cost-effective, that they provided weatherization services following a comprehensive energy audit and work plan, except in cases where the fuel seller and weatherization staff jointly conclude that the need for weatherization services can be determined without a comprehensive energy audit, and that they were targeted to households at or below 150 percent of the federally-established poverty guidelines.
(g) On or before August 7 of each year, the director of the state economic opportunity office shall set aside a sum of money equaling two and one-half percent of the tax receipts of the fuel gross receipts tax for the preceding fiscal year in an escrow account. The monies in the escrow account are to be used for rebate, as approved under subsections (e) and (f) of this section, of the gross receipts tax established in subsection (a) of this section. Upon approval of rebates, the director shall pay the approved rebates out of the escrow account. In the event that the approved rebates exceed the amount of money set aside in the escrow account, the director shall prorate each rebate. Any balance of rebate awards remaining unpaid as a result of proration may be carried forward for payment in a succeeding year. If monies set aside exceed approved rebates, then the balance shall be returned to the trust fund. The director of the state economic opportunity office shall use the remainder of the tax receipts of the fuel gross receipts tax for the preceding fiscal year to assure the provision of weatherization services as described in subsections 2502(a), (b), and (c) of this title.
(h) No tax under this section shall be imposed for any quarter ending after June 30, 2011. Monies from the escrow account shall be issued for rebates pursuant to subsection (g) of this section until March 1, 2012. (Added 1989, No. 272 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; amended 1991 No. 262 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 5-7; 1993, No. 230 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 2; 2003, No. 9, § 2; 2007, No. 65, § 132; 2007, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 32; 2009, No. 22, § 9a; No. 3 (Sp. Sess.), § 18, eff. June 10, 2009.)
