Arizona Laws 28-5623. Civil penalty; use fuel purchaser; vendor refund; financial penalty prohibited; subsequent violations
A. Notwithstanding any other law, if a person intentionally purchases use fuel for use in a use class motor vehicle that is not exempt pursuant to section 28-5432 from the weight fee prescribed in section 28-5433 and the person pays the use fuel tax rate for a light class motor vehicle, all of the following apply:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 28-5623
- Department: means the department of transportation acting directly or through its duly authorized officers and agents. See Arizona Laws 28-101
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Light class motor vehicle: means a motor vehicle that uses use fuel on the highways in this state but excludes a road tractor, truck tractor, truck or passenger carrying vehicle having a declared gross vehicle weight of more than twenty-six thousand pounds or having more than two axles. See Arizona Laws 28-5601
- Motor vehicle: means a self-propelled vehicle required to be licensed or subject to licensing for operation on a highway. See Arizona Laws 28-5601
- Operator: means a person who drives a motor vehicle on a highway, who is in actual physical control of a motor vehicle on a highway or who is exercising control over or steering a vehicle being towed by a motor vehicle. See Arizona Laws 28-101
- Owner: means :
(a) A person who holds the legal title of a vehicle. See Arizona Laws 28-101
- Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation, estate, trust, business trust, receiver or syndicate, this state, any county, city, town, district or other subdivision of this state, an Indian tribe, or any other group or combination acting as a unit. See Arizona Laws 28-5601
- Process: means a citation, writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Use: includes the placing of fuel into any receptacle on a motor vehicle from which fuel is supplied for the propulsion of the vehicle unless the operator of the vehicle establishes to the satisfaction of the director that the fuel was consumed for a purpose other than to propel a motor vehicle on a highway in this state and, with respect to fuel brought into this state in any such receptacle on a use class motor vehicle, the consumption of the fuel in this state. See Arizona Laws 28-5601
- Use class motor vehicle: means a motor vehicle that uses use fuel on a highway in this state and that is a road tractor, truck tractor, truck or passenger carrying vehicle having a declared gross vehicle weight of more than twenty-six thousand pounds or having more than two axles. See Arizona Laws 28-5601
- Use fuel: includes all gases and liquids used or suitable for use to propel motor vehicles, except fuels that are subject to the motor vehicle fuel tax imposed by this article. See Arizona Laws 28-5601
- Vendor: includes a person who sells use fuel in this state and who places the fuel or causes the fuel to be placed into any receptacle on a motor vehicle from which receptacle fuel is supplied for the propulsion, including a service station dealer, a broker and a user who sells use fuel to others. See Arizona Laws 28-5601
1. Except as provided in subsection B of this section, the person is subject to a civil penalty of one thousand dollars or ten dollars for each gallon of use fuel dispensed, whichever is greater, and shall pay to the department the difference between the amount of light class motor vehicle use fuel tax paid and the amount of the use class motor vehicle use fuel tax on the same number of gallons purchased.
2. The department may not deny a refund requested by a vendor pursuant to section 28-5614 for that purchase.
3. The department shall not impose any penalty, including a financial penalty of any kind, on a vendor for that purchase if the purchase was determined as a result of any inquiry, including any audit process.
B. For a second or subsequent violation, the civil penalty shall be determined by multiplying the amount prescribed in subsection A of this section by the number of prior violations.
C. A vendor shall not be liable for the civil penalty imposed by this section provided the vendor is not the owner or operator of the vehicle into which the fuel was dispensed or conspired with the purchaser to evade the proper tax rate.