This article addresses frequently recurring support questions from customers about Verizon Connect's third party integration with Nuonic in Australia.
About fuel tax credits
Verizon Connect has partnered with Nuonic to help Australian fleets automatically identify off-road vehicle use. On-road and off-road fuel tax credits (FTCs) are calculated at different rates, and identifying your on-road versus off-road vehicle use can help to improve your FTC calculations.
Benefits of fuel tax credits
- Automatically and accurately calculates your on-road and off-road fuel expenditure.
- Helps you measure time spent off-road versus on-road.
- Lets you make accurate, informed FTC claims.
For more information see the Verizon Connect Nuonic partnership page.
How does the system work?
- Vehicle location data is shared with the Nuonics Prism portal each day and compared to a comprehensive map of Australia that uses cadastral, road, and land features. This is enhanced with proprietary data from internal analysis and customer feedback to address mapping imperfections. No mapping data set is 100 percent accurate, so we also provide tools for customers to view and evaluate their off-road activity assignment within our system.
- Every segment of driving and idling activity for every vehicle is identified as on-road or off-road, and the relevant FTC rate is applied to the calculated fuel use.
- The system also identifies private roads and uses GPS data to measure your time on private roads.
- Monthly calculations support your claims, and the resulting analysis is compiled into a single report that is submitted to the nominated recipients.
Fuel tax credit reports
Reveal settings
Some one-time administration is required. A user with admin rights must update the following fields:
- Vehicle Number - Each vehicle must have a unique vehicle number; for example, vehicle registration number, asset number, or vehicle name. The value in this field must be unique for each vehicle. If this field is empty, we can’t process the data.
- Make and model of vehicle or equipment - We use this data to identify fuel efficiency and vehicle category details from available data sources. If these fields are incomplete, we make conservative assumptions instead. We highly recommend updating these fields for each vehicle included in the FTC calculation.
Advanced users can fine tune vehicle settings directly in the Prism portal. Contact us to arrange access.
Understanding your report
Each monthly report contains the following sections:
- FTC summary per month - Displays a summary of the fuel used for the chosen reporting period, the fuel apportioned to on-road and off-road activity, the total eligible claim amount ($), and fuel eligible for claim.
- FTC summary per rate period and fuel type - Displays a summary of fuels used in the reporting period.
- FTC per vehicle - Displays detailed FTC and fuel intake information against each vehicle in your fleet.
- Activity per vehicle - Provides activity statistics for each vehicle month in the report period.
Optimizing FTC calculations
We use assumptions relating to fuel consumption and algorithms to avoid inadvertent off-road assignment in uncertain cases. Default values for the assumptions that are configurable by customers (fuel rates) are provided to assist you in getting started. We strongly advise that you review and update these with appropriate values based on your knowledge of your fleet. Check each report to make sure that the vehicle settings are accurate. In particular:
- Vehicle category - This ensures that the default fuel burn rates are appropriate for the type of vehicle. If this is not correct there is a possibility of under or over claiming.
- FTC On-Road Claim - Should be set to “Yes” for heavy vehicles over 4.5T GVM, or “No” for light vehicles under 4.5T GVM.
- Idling and driving fuel burn rates - If your vehicle rates are different from the system “matched rate” for the class of vehicle they should be updated to improve the accuracy of the calculations.
If changes need to be made, contact us for assistance. We can also provide you with a fresh report using the updated settings.
Advanced users can fine tune vehicle settings directly in the Prism portal. Contact us to arrange access.
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) recommends that all calculations are evaluated for accuracy against your other business records, such as fuel card transactions.
Troubleshooting
Adding new vehicles
If you add new vehicles to your fleet, they will automatically appear on the next monthly report, as long as they have been set up correctly (see Reveal Settings).
Adding missing vehicles
If a vehicle is not showing in your monthly report, check the following:
- Has the vehicle been installed with a tracker and been used during the month?
- Is the vehicle set up correctly in Reveal? (see Reveal Settings).
- Are the vehicle journeys reporting in Reveal?
If the answer to all of these is “yes”, contact us so that we can investigate why the vehicle is not showing in the monthly report.
Editing vehicles
If vehicle settings are incorrect, contact us for assistance. We can give advanced users the required permissions so that they can fine tune vehicle settings directly in the Prism portal.
Changing report recipient
The monthly report can be sent to multiple recipients. Contact us to make changes to the list of recipients.
Incorrect data
The map data from Nuonic is very comprehensive, but not perfect. If there is an area that you believe is mislabeled as on-road or off-road, let us know.
Advanced options
There are some situations where you might require direct access to the Prism portal so that you can adjust the settings. For example:
- You might need to make regular changes to fuel burn rates.
- Fuel has been used for auxiliary purposes.
- ATO safe harbor rates have been used.
Contact us to arrange for direct access to the Prism portal.