Texas Dyed Diesel Bonded User Fuels Tax Report: Filing and Penalties

The Texas Dyed Diesel Bonded User Fuels Tax Report, Form 06-169, is due by the 25th day of the month after each calendar quarter, or by January 25 for annual filers, and it must be filed every period whether or not any tax is owed.¹ Tax runs at $0.20 per gallon on any dyed diesel diverted to taxable highway use.² Most bonded users owe nothing in a given period, but the report still has to go in.

Who Files This Report

Form 06-169 is the return for holders of a dyed diesel fuel bonded user license. That license applies to operations purchasing more than 10,000 gallons of dyed diesel per calendar month for their own use.³ Smaller users who buy dyed diesel tax-free under a signed statement instead of a bonded user license are on a different track and don’t file this form.

What the Report Asks For

The form is an accounting of every gallon of dyed diesel your operation touched during the period. You’ll need your 11-digit Texas Taxpayer Number and your Webfile number, which is two letters followed by six digits and appears in the upper left corner of the report the Comptroller mails you.⁴

Before you sit down to fill it out, pull together:

Purchase records for the period, organized by supplier, showing date, gallons, and whether fuel went into bulk storage or directly into equipment.
Physical inventory readings at the start and end of the period.
Consumption logs separating off-highway use (farm tractors, excavators, generators, forklifts, and similar equipment) from any gallons that ended up in a highway vehicle.
Documentation for any exempt uses, such as fuel delivered into railway engines, motorboats, refrigeration units, or stationary equipment powered by a separate motor from a separate fuel tank.⁵

All gallon figures on the form are rounded to whole numbers.¹ Keep your fuel tax records for at least four years. If your physical inventory doesn’t match your recorded purchases, document the variance; unexplained losses invite Comptroller scrutiny.

Doing the Math

Enter total gallons acquired, then back out gallons used for qualifying off-highway purposes and any inventory adjustments. Whatever remains is taxable. Multiply taxable gallons by $0.20 to get the tax due.² For most bonded users the figure is zero, which is the point of the license. If the number isn’t zero, enter it and pay it.

Zero-liability periods still require a filed return. Enter zeros in the liability fields and submit. Skipping the filing because nothing is owed is one of the more common mistakes, and it triggers the same late penalty as an unpaid balance.

How to File

Webfile is the fastest route. Log in through the eSystems portal on the Comptroller’s site, enter your figures, review the summary, and submit for immediate confirmation.⁶ Webfile returns must be in by 11:59 p.m. Central Time on the due date, and you can pay electronically through the same portal.

Larger operations with multiple schedules can file by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) instead.⁶ Paper filing by mail is still allowed, and the mailing address prints on the form itself. Review every figure on the summary before submitting; correcting an error after the fact usually means calling the Comptroller.

When the Report Is Due

Quarterly filers owe the report by the 25th day of the month after the end of each calendar quarter. That puts the deadlines on April 25, July 25, October 25, and January 25.⁷ Annual filers have a single deadline of January 25.¹ When the 25th falls on a weekend or state holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. A filing is required every period regardless of activity.

Penalties for Late or Missed Filings

Late penalties stack. Any report filed after the due date carries a flat $50 late filing penalty, whether or not tax is owed.¹ On top of the $50, late payments of tax draw percentage penalties:

1 to 30 days late: 5% of the tax due.
More than 30 days late: 10% of the tax due, with a $1.00 minimum.¹

Tax still unpaid 61 days after the due date starts accruing interest at a rate the Comptroller publishes annually. If you’re required to file electronically and submit on paper instead, add another 5% penalty.⁶ Not filing at all can trigger collection action under Title 2 of the Tax Code and revocation of your bonded user license.¹

What the Report Can’t Fix: Highway Use

Filing and paying the $0.20 per gallon on Form 06-169 doesn’t cure a diversion of dyed diesel to on-highway use. Using dyed diesel to power a motor vehicle on a public highway is a criminal offense in Texas, as is selling or delivering dyed diesel for highway use.⁸

Federal law adds its own penalty. Under 26 U.S.C. § 6715, selling dyed fuel for highway use or using it on a highway carries a penalty of $1,000 or $10 per gallon, whichever is greater. Repeat violations multiply the base $1,000 by the number of prior penalties, so a second offense starts at $2,000, a third at $3,000, and up from there.⁹ The federal diesel fuel tax of 24.4 cents per gallon (24.3 cents base plus a 0.1-cent Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund surcharge) also becomes payable on any dyed fuel put to taxable use.¹⁰ For fleets running both off-highway equipment and highway trucks, physically separated fuel systems are the practical safeguard.

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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Texas Dyed Diesel Bonded User Fuels Tax Report
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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Revenue Object 3008 – Diesel Fuel Tax
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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Application for Fuels Tax License
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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Create a Webfile Account Step-by-Step
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State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 162-204 – Exemptions
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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. File and Pay
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Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Diesel Fuel
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State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 162-403 – Criminal Offenses
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6715 – Dyed Fuel Sold for Use or Used in Taxable Use
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 4081 – Imposition of Tax