Diesel Fuel Ultimate Vendor Report/Claim for Refund

General Information

An ultimate vendor is a person who sells tax-paid undyed diesel fuel without charging tax to ultimate purchasers (farmers who use diesel fuel on a farm for farming purposes and exempt bus operators who use diesel fuel in exempt bus operations) who provide an exemption certificate. As a licensed ultimate vendor of diesel fuel in California, you may be reimbursed for tax you paid on undyed diesel fuel you subsequently sold without tax to ultimate purchasers, including farmers who use fuel on a farm for farming purposes and exempt bus operators who use the fuel in exempt bus operations. You may also request a refund of the tax paid on undyed diesel fuel you exported outside California, sold to the U.S. Government and its agencies or instrumentalities, sold to train operators, and on tax-paid undyed diesel fuel you used for purposes other than operating vehicles on highways in California.

Note: Every July 1, the diesel fuel tax rate is adjusted based on changes in the California Consumer Price Index. The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) generally announce the adjusted rate by the preceding May 1. Due to this annual rate adjustment, you may have transactions at several different tax rates. The diesel fuel tax rate is located on the Special Taxes and Fees Tax Rates webpage under Diesel Fuel Tax.

Filing Requirements

Every licensed diesel fuel ultimate vendor is required to file the Diesel Fuel Ultimate Vendor Report/Claim for Refund and schedules (if applicable), reporting all diesel fuel purchases and sales or uses that qualify for a refund during the reporting period, on or before the last day of the calendar month, following the reporting period.

On the report, you may file claims for refund of the tax paid on undyed diesel fuel:

  • subsequently sold without tax to ultimate purchasers, including:
    • farmers who use fuel on a farm for farming purposes, and
    • exempt bus operators who use the fuel in exempt bus operations,
  • for use outside California,
  • sold to the U.S. Government and its agencies or instrumentalities,
  • sold to train operators for use in a diesel-powered train or for other off-highway use, or
  • used in operations for purposes other than propelling vehicles on the highway in California.

Note: With CDTFA’s approval, you may file a weekly claim for refund on sales to ultimate purchasers by submitting a Diesel Fuel Tax Claim for Refund-Sales to Ultimate Purchasers (CDTFA-770-DVW). However, any exempt sales for the last week of the month must be claimed on the Diesel Fuel Ultimate Vendor Report/Claim for Refund (CDTFA-770-DV).

Note: If you are both an ultimate vendor and a supplier, you will only need a supplier account. You can take a credit for refunds due to you as an ultimate vendor on your supplier return, CDTFA-501-DD, Supplier of Diesel Fuel Tax Return.

You must file your claim for refund:

  • within three years from the date the fuel was purchased, or
  • if the tax was not invoiced at the time of the purchase of the diesel fuel, within six months after the receipt of an invoice for the tax, whichever period expires later.

Note: If you are filing a claim for refund, you must complete all appropriate schedules and submit them with this report/claim. Refer to the Schedule Preparation section below for more information. Failure to properly complete the schedules will result in your refund claim not being accepted, and the report and all accompanying documents will be returned to you.

A report must be filed for each reporting period even if you do not have any exempt transactions to report or refunds to claim. Failure to file the report will result in a delay in processing any refunds.

Schedule Preparation

There are two types of supporting schedules required for the Diesel Fuel Ultimate Vendor Report/Claim for Refund: Receipt Schedule and Disbursement Schedule. You must use the appropriate schedule code(s) for each receipt and disbursement activity claimed, listed under the Refund Claim Schedules section of the CDTFA-810-FTE, Instructions for Preparing Motor Fuels Schedules. Enter the schedule code for your activities on the Schedule tab of the FLT filing template (CDTFA-770-DV-E or CDTFA-770-DVW-E (weekly)). In addition to a schedule code to describe the activity claimed, you must also indicate the type of product by entering the appropriate product code on the Schedule tab.

For detailed information regarding preparation of the schedules, please refer to CDTFA-810-FTE, Instructions for Preparing Motor Fuels Schedules, Refund Claim Schedules section.

List of codes used in schedule preparation can be located on our website, under Guidelines of the Motor Fuels Online Filing webpage.

File Attachment

To submit your CDTFA-770-DV-E , Diesel Fuel Ultimate Vendor Report/Claim for Refund or CDTFA-770-DVW-E , Diesel Fuel Tax Claim for Refund-Sales to Ultimate Purchasers (weekly filers only), click the Add button to upload the file attachment.

On the Select a file to attach pop-up window:

  1. The file Type is defaulted to: Motor Fuels Flat File (FLT)
  2. Enter a description of the file in the Description field (for example: Account 123–456789, Period Jan. 2024).
  3. Click the Choose File button and follow the prompts to select and upload the file.
  4. Once you have completed all required information, click the Save button.

Click the Next button to proceed to the next screen.

For instructions on file preparation, including file type and formatting requirements, template Excel workbooks for creating Flat (FLT) files, sample files, and other useful information related to motor fuels online filing , please visit our website.

Review Totals

Do you agree with the refund calculated from the schedules?

The reported refund claimed from the file attachment may be different than the calculated refund claimed from the schedules.

If you agree to use the refund calculated from the schedules, select Yes and click Next.

If the calculated refund from the schedules is incorrect, do not proceed. You must first correct and resubmit the file attachment. Select the Previous button and follow the instructions to resubmit a corrected file attachment.

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