Ultimate Vendors – Filing Claims for Refund

You are an Ultimate Vendor if you:

  1. sell tax-paid undyed diesel fuel without tax
  2. under an exemption certificate
  3. to Ultimate Purchasers, including farmers (who use diesel fuel for farming purposes) and exempt bus operators (who use diesel fuel in exempt bus operations)

You must file form CDTFA-770-DV, Diesel Fuel Ultimate Vendor Report/Claim for Refund, listing diesel fuel purchases and sales/uses that qualify for a refund. You must file a report even if you have no exempt transactions or refunds to claim for the reporting period. Failure to file this report will result in a delay in processing any future refunds.

Registered Suppliers of Diesel Fuel who have ultimate vendor sales may claim these exempt sales on CDTFA-501-DD, Supplier of Diesel Fuel Tax Return.

With our approval, you may file a weekly claim for refund on sales to Ultimate Purchasers using form CDTFA-770-DVW, Diesel Fuel Tax Claim for Refund-Sales to Ultimate Purchasers. Weekly filers must claim any exempt sales for the last week of the month on form CDTFA-770-DV.

You may also use form CDTFA-770-DV to request a refund of the tax paid on undyed diesel fuel exported for use outside California, sold to the U.S. government and its agencies or instrumentalities, sold to train operators, or used for purposes other than operating vehicles on highways in this state.

You must obtain, accept in good faith, and maintain valid exemption certificates from Ultimate Purchasers to support exempt sales. If you do not provide the necessary exemption certification when requested, we may deny your claim on any unsupported sale. These certificates include:

In some instances, an Ultimate Purchaser will purchase diesel fuel for both exempt and nonexempt uses. Generally, the purchaser's exemption certificate must show the percentage to be used for an exempt purpose. You must ensure that the amounts included in your claims for refund reflect your customer's exempt percentage, as reflected on the exemption certificate signed by your customer under penalty of perjury.

The deadline for filing a claim for refund is three years from the date of purchase, or, if the tax was not invoiced at the time of the purchase of the diesel fuel, six months after the receipt of an invoice for the tax, whichever period expires later.

Ultimate Vendor Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)