Diesel rebate for mining: what changed on 1 April 2026

From 1 April 2026, mining on land claims the diesel refund on 100 per cent of eligible purchases instead of 80 per cent, after Notice R.7143 amended Note 6(b)(i) to Part 3 of Schedule 6 (rebate item 670.04). Since 1 July 2026 the refund is 382.2 cents per eligible litre, against an effective 297.6 cents before April.

The change was announced in the 2025 Budget and took effect with the April 2026 return. Between 1 April and 1 July the rate per litre also changed four times, because the fuel levy it refunds was cut and then restored.

What the law said before and after

The diesel refund repays “all or part of the general fuel levies and RAF (Road Accident Fund) levy” to producers in listed sectors (SARS, Diesel Refund Scheme page, read 25 Sep 2026). For mining on land the rule sits in Note 6(b)(i) to Part 3 of Schedule 6.

Before 1 April 2026 (the text in force from 4 June 2025):

“Farming, forestry or mining on land is 154,0 cents per litre fuel levy on 80 per cent of eligible purchases, plus 218,0 cents per litre Road Accident Fund levy on 80 per cent of eligible purchases equalling 372,0 cents per litre on 80 per cent of the total eligible purchases.”

The worked line under it read: “1 000 x 80 per cent equals 800 litres on which a refund of 372,0 cent per litre may be claimed” (amendment 6/3/64).

From 1 April 2026, R.7143 (Government Gazette 54173, 20 February 2026) drops the 80 per cent. Its worked line reads: “1 000 litres on which a refund of 372,0 cent per litre may be claimed”. SARS confirmed it in a letter to claimants on 13 February 2026: “primary sector claimants operating onland will be entitled to claim a refund on 100% of eligible diesel used in qualifying farming, forestry, and mining activities.”

Diesel refund rate per litre since 1 April 2026

From 1 April 2026, Notices R.7298 and R.7299 raised the general fuel levy on diesel from 385 to 393 cents and the RAF levy from 218 to 225 cents. The government then cut the fuel levy on diesel from 1 April to 30 June 2026 as temporary relief from rising fuel prices. Each levy change came with a matching notice amending Note 6(b)(i).

Sources: the notices listed on SARS’s tariff amendments 2026 page, read 25 Sep 2026. R.7300 set 382.2 cents from 1 April, but R.7341 replaced it for 1 April to 5 May. The last column is our arithmetic.

In every notice the fuel levy part for land users is 40 per cent of the general fuel levy on diesel at the time: 157.2 of 393 cents, 78.8 of 197, 37.2 of 93. The RAF levy is refunded in full. During the relief months the refund per eligible litre fell below the old effective 297.6 cents, because the diesel itself carried less levy.

What the change is worth

Contractors: who claims the diesel refund

For a load and haul or drill and blast contractor, the text that decides who claims is Note 6(e)(i)(bb) of Schedule 6:

“(A) Any person whose services are contracted by a user, is not entitled to a refund in respect of distillate fuel used in any vehicle, vessel, machine or other equipment to render such services.”

“(B) Where a contract for such services is only on a dry basis, the user who supplies the distillate fuel to the contractor may apply for a refund in respect of the fuel actually used in rendering the services.”

A contract is “dry” when the user “supplies the distillate fuel from eligible purchases”, and “wet” when the fuel comes with the machine. Note 6(f)(ii) adds that qualifying mining must be done by the user or by a contractor on a dry basis, at the place of the mining operation. It must also be done “by the holder or cessionary of the necessary authorisation” under the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.

In practice:

• On a dry contract, the mine (the user) buys the diesel, supplies it to you and claims the refund on the litres your machines burn on eligible work. It must keep “full particulars of any fuel supplied on a dry basis to any contractor” (Note 6(q)(v)(bb)(C)). Your fuel records become part of its claim.
• On a wet contract, where you buy the diesel, the contractor is not entitled to the refund and the mine has no purchase of its own to claim on. At 382.2 cents per eligible litre, the refund given up on wet work is 84.6 cents a litre more than under the pre-April rule.

Whether a given contract is dry or wet is a matter of its terms. Take advice before you reprice one.

Which mining activities qualify

Note 6(f)(iii) lists “own primary production activities in mining”. Those most relevant to surface contractors include:

• exploration and prospecting
• “The removal of over burden and other activities undertaken in the preparation of a site”
• recovery of minerals, “but not including any post-recovery or post-mining processing”
• private access roads at the mine
• waste removal and disposal from the mining site
• transporting ore on the mining site for processing, and from the site to the nearest railway siding
• servicing and repairing equipment at the mine, by the person who carries on the mining operation
• rehabilitation required by an approved environmental management programme

Drilling rigs, front-end loaders and excavators are listed as “an integral part of the mining process”. For quarries, sand, stone, gravel and similar materials qualify only if mined from a quarry, and quarrying excludes “crushing, sorting and washing” (Schedule 6, consolidated 11 September 2026).

Claiming across the change

SARS said the 100 per cent rate “is effectively applied from the April 2026 return” but would “reflect only from the calendar month when this VAT return must be submitted, i.e. May 2026”. Its SE-DSL-02 calculation policy (effective 20 April 2026) says that where a return covers March and April, “the user must adjust their March litres before they capture the litres on the form”. Where a rate changes inside a tax period, litres used before the change are scaled by a factor: “the previous rate per usage type” divided by “the current rate to the 5th decimal”. With four rate changes between April and July, check each return from that period against the notice dates in the table above.

Records SARS expects for a diesel refund claim

The record-keeping rules did not change on 1 April. Note 6 requires:

• logbooks giving “a full audit trail of distillate fuel for which refunds are claimed, from purchase to use thereof” (Note 6(a)(xi))
• purchase documents “in the name of the user” (6(q)(ii))
• “the capacity of each tank in which fuel is stored and the receipt and removal from such tanks” (6(q)(v)(bb)(D))
• a logbook for fuel supplied to each vehicle or machine used in onland mining (6(q)(v)(dd))
• all books and documents kept for 5 years (6(q)(i)(aa))

Lost diesel is not refundable: “Distillate fuel lost through accident, theft, leakage or any other cause whatsoever is regarded as non-eligible” (6(r)(i)). The loss must be shown as a non-eligible purchase, with the date, the place, the quantity and how it was calculated. Our guide to where diesel goes missing on a mine site covers the physical side.

Diesel refund registration moved off the VAT system

Claims are still made on the VAT 201 return. Registration has moved. SARS says a new diesel refund registration platform “was implemented on 18 September 2026”, that “existing diesel-refund users must register on the new solution” and that “registration is not automatic”. Diesel sellers must register too, so users can link to them electronically.

R.7920 (Government Gazette 55406, 18 September 2026) adds a “registration profile” and requires the user to buy eligible diesel “from sellers of petroleum products who are disclosed on the relationship management system”. It amends the rewritten Note 6 first published in Government Gazette 46056 on 18 March 2022. That rewritten note is not in SARS’s consolidated Schedule 6 dated 11 September 2026, and BDO wrote in April 2026 that its effective date “has still not been provided”. Confirm with SARS or your adviser when the rewritten note applies to your claims.

Common questions

Can a mining contractor claim the diesel refund?

Not for fuel it buys itself to render services to a mine. Schedule 6 says a contracted person is not entitled to the refund. Where the contract is on a dry basis, the user who supplies the diesel may claim for the fuel actually used.

What is the diesel refund rate for mining in September 2026?

382.2 cents per litre of eligible purchases (157.2 cents fuel levy plus 225.0 cents Road Accident Fund levy), in force since 1 July 2026 under Notice R.7479.

Is stolen or spilt diesel refundable?

No. Diesel lost through accident, theft, leakage or any other cause is non-eligible and must be shown as a non-eligible purchase on the return, with a record of the date, place, quantity and how it was calculated.

Do existing claimants have to register again?

Yes. SARS moved diesel refund registration to a separate system on 18 September 2026 and says existing users must register on it. Registration is not automatic.

Sources

1. Schedule No. 6 to the Customs and Excise Act, consolidated, dated 11 September 2026, SARS.
2. R.7143, Government Gazette 54173, 20 February 2026.
3. Amendment of Schedule 6 (No. 6/3/64), effective 4 June 2025.
4. Tariff amendments 2026 (R.7298, R.7299, R.7300, R.7340, R.7341, R.7426, R.7427, R.7475, R.7476, R.7478, R.7479), SARS.
5. R.7920, Government Gazette 55406, 18 September 2026.
6. Adjustment to diesel refund for onland users in farming, forestry and mining sectors, SARS letter, 13 February 2026.
7. SE-DSL-02 Manage Diesel Refund Calculation, external policy, SARS, effective 20 April 2026.
8. Diesel Refund Scheme, SARS.
9. Excise: increase in diesel refund claims from 80% to 100%, SARS, 20 April 2026.
10. Diesel refunds: is there progress in 2026?, BDO South Africa, 15 April 2026.