This was posted 2 years 8 months 17 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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36% Discount on Road User Charges (RUC) for 3 Months @ NZ Transport Agency

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36% Discount on Road User Charges (RUC) for 3 Months at The Government.

This is a continuation of the fuel Tax Discount scheme that was announced in March:
https://www.cheapies.nz/node/32523

The discount for RUCs has just been announced. A date is yet to be confirmed, but it has been said it will run from late April to late July. 21st April to 21st July 2022.

It will be interesting to see if the price of consumer goods drops due to the discount.

As stated in the article:
Diesel vehicle owners can buy RUCs in advance for as many kilometres as they choose, at the click of button.
Owners of diesel vehicles will be asked to formally declare that they are not stockpiling discounted Road User Charges (RUC) during a three-month period when the government is cutting the price.

Diesel users must promise not to stockpile discounted Road User Charges.

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  • +3

    So if you "promise" not to stockpile but end up cancelling your 5000kms road trip around the country - woudl that be an issue?

  • What is 'stockpiling'?

    • Purchasing a large amount of RUC’s in advance, therefore not having to purchase more in the future.

  • +1

    I doubt it will result in a discount, more just a stall to increase in price. Then as the months run out there will be a spike in prices again.
    Happy to be wrong though

  • +1

    There is nothing that I can see to stop anyone 'stockpiling' RUCs while the discount is in place (especially if they are somewhat circumspect):

    Owners of diesel vehicles will be asked to formally declare that they are not stockpiling discounted Road User Charges (RUC) during a three-month period when the government is cutting the price.

    Diesel users must promise not to stockpile discounted Road User Charges.

    How will the government know? WOF tests will provide some evidence in some cases, but the only way that I can see for them to check, is for them to require an independent odometer reading at the start of the discount period, and another at the end. Obviously that doesn't stop someone from winding it forward, but at least that would reduce the value of the vehicle, so there is some dis-incentive to do that, and once read and recorded, any winding forward would be harder to retract later (all of which are issues that exist regardless of the RUC discounting).

    This whole policy is just retarded.

    Alan.

    • The Minister of Transport Michael Wood said urgent legislation will require RUC buyers to complete a declaration, and Waka Kotahi would carry out spot checks to ensure purchases are in line with past use.

      “Enforcement action could include the charging of unused road user charge at the non-reduced rate,” Wood told Stuff in a statement.

      Stuff article here.

      • +3

        So, in other words, they won't have any way of checking.

        What if your usage has legitimately increased - maybe doubled from last year to this year - do you get audited, and if so, we are back to the question of, 'how will they know'.

        This is going to either cause a lot of grief for innocent people, or get rorted by those taking advantage, or most likely both.

        What a bunch of muppets announcing a policy without actually thinking it through.

        • +3

          Making it up as they go… No surprises haha!

        • For policies that benefit the government, they just announce it on a whim (e.g. oil and gas ban). If you're lucky they will do a national environmental impact assessment later.

          For policies that might benefit ordinary people, they will announce an announcement will be announced at some time that will be announced later.

          I wish we could return to the days when the government would just do the boring stuff, governing the country, instead of spinning, announcing, staging, and propagandising.

    • +3

      The government can't or won't do squat. Just like the first round of the wage subsidy.

      https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/414453/wage-subsidy-comp…

  • I think they talked about looking at your historical RUC purchasing habits and if you bought more than usual they might look into it. Worst case scenario they will just charge you for the difference between the normal and discounted price, so not much risk in overbuying.

    I'll probably just do a "usual" topup as soon as the deal goes live, and another near the end of the deal.

  • +10

    I pinky promise not to stockpile, but i’m grabbing at least 20,000kms.

  • +1

    Define 'stockpiling'? What if they're normally purchased in blocks of 10,000km. Would 15,000km or 20,000km count? With all the other increases to cost of living surely they wouldn't waste time chasing a measly few hundred dollars saved over a year…

    • +4

      I'm sure they would spend $5 to recover $2 if it means they are catching "cheaters"

      • I hope you are right, but I have to doubt they will.

  • +1

    I wonder how much is considered stockpiling ad last year I bought 20k with my tax and planning on doing the same this year

  • When is this actually available? (The RUC discount)

    • +1

      A date is yet to be confirmed, but it has been said it will run from late April to late July.

  • if I bought 20 RUC units upfront from 2022 Jan, will goverment refund my stockpiled RUC?
    NO. So why can you buy now and use later?

    Stupid Goverment Policy

    • If you scrap the car you can get a refund :)

      • unfortunately I will buy 50 units when RUC discount applied, as the next WOF check is 2024 for my car. :)
        and by then, this goverment is not existing anymore. :)

      • Can you transfer the RUCs with the vehicle? I had inferred that they were attached to the vehicle.

  • +1

    Got an email about this tonight.

    =============================

    RUC discount
    The RUC part of the package involves reducing RUC rates by 36% between 21 April and 21 July 2022. The Government set this figure because it offers equivalent savings to the fuel excise duty cut of 25 cents a litre.

    In general terms, if you buy a RUC licence between 21 April and 21 July 2022, you'll be buying a licence at the reduced rate.

    You should buy only enough RUC for the distance you intend to travel during the three-month discount period. You’ll need to complete a declaration confirming this when you buy your RUC. Waka Kotahi can charge you the non-discounted rate if you buy an excessive amount of RUC.

    Already have a RUC licence?
    If you already have a RUC licence that will cover you for that period, you can still take advantage of the discounted rates by buying a new licence from 21 April, starting at the current distance reading showing on your vehicle’s odometer/hubodometer.

    When you buy your new licence, our system will automatically credit you for any unused distance. You'll be credited back at the RUC rate you originally paid. You must use all of this credit when you buy your new licence.

    An instructional video on our website shows you how to buy a new licence that overlaps your existing licence.

    We have full details of the RUC discounts and more on overlap licences at www.nzta.govt.nz/ruc-reduction-scheme. We’ll be updating our website, so check it for the latest information.

  • The discount seems to be live now but the website to buy them is going at snails pace naturally!

  • -1

    This is only for diesel cars right? How about for those with petrol cars?

    • You get your discount at the pump.

    • There is a 25c excise reduction on petrol currently - you might have seen it all over the media a short while back.

      Read the OP above.

  • I bought 20k yesterday but haven't received an email confirmation or anything. Took a screenshot of the purchase just in case..

    • The discounted rate is applied at the time of purchase.
      I also bought 10k yesterday for a work vehicle and it worked fine.

      In my case, we already had several thousand km's purchased but unused prior to yesterday.
      You need to update the starting odometer reading on the website to your current odometer reading and it will automatically credit back the unused km's and repurchase them at the discounted rate.

      If you are buying new km's then what you buy now is at the discounted rate.
      Here's the explanation with examples:

      I did get an email straight away confirming my purchase.

      • Amazing that so many people have done so little mileage since their last WoF :-)

      • That's cool that you can buy the unused at the new discounted rate. After a big road trip over Easter weekend I only JUST ran out so the timing of this discount couldn't have come at a better time.

        The purchase I made yesterday was at the discounted rate only I didn't get the email confirmation. I send NZTA an email so I will wait for a reply on what they say.

        • +1

          Check your junk mail folder.
          Being an automated response they sometimes get treated as spam.

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