General Information

This Unit is responsible for the collection of excise taxes paid for fuels that are used in motor vehicles that are operated on the State's roadways. Companies that sell fuel are required to be licensed with this office and file monthly tax returns to remit the fuel excise taxes collected during the reporting period. Tax returns are processed internally by manually data entering all of the information from the returns into our accounting system. Most of our customers are required by law to remit their payments electronically via ACH.

There are five different types of licenses required that a company may apply for. A motor fuel distributor is a company that sells gasoline or aviation gasoline in bulk. A special fuel supplier is a company that sells primarily diesel in bulk. An aviation jet fuel supplier is a company that sells aviation jet fuel designed for use in the operation of jet or turbo-prop aircraft, and sold or used for that purpose. A company may be licensed for more that one type of license depending upon how they operate.

Each company is required to be licensed with this office and must submit an application in order to begin business in Delaware. We do a complete background check with these companies before they are licensed that includes contacting other states to determine if there are any compliance issues that need to be addressed. The company is also contacted to make sure that they meet the definition for the type of license that they have applied for and an explanation of all of their requirements are provided. Once the companies are licensed they must renew their licenses by June 30 to continue in business.

A surety bond must also be provided by all licensed companies to protect the State against any unpaid tax liabilities. These bonds range from $5,000 to $200,000 and may have to be increased periodically if their operations change. This office continuously monitors the surety bond coverage and requires the bonds to be increased as needed.