Lands on Form 4136, carried to Schedule 3 (Form 1040) as a refundable credit, then back as income on next year's Schedule C line 6

This is not for you if your equipment runs on batteries, if the company you work under buys the fuel, or if you mow for one household as its employee. In the first case no tax was paid. In the second, the claim is theirs. In the third, the work is not a business. It is for anyone who runs a lawn care or landscaping business and fills their own gas cans.

Gasoline carries a federal excise tax of $0.184 a gallon, charged when it leaves the terminal and built into the price at the pump. The tax assumes the fuel will drive on a highway. Your mowers, trimmers, blowers and chain saws have never been on one.

The IRS agrees, and the example it chose to say so is a landscaping business.

The short answer
Does mower and trimmer gas qualify? Yes. Off-highway business use
Who says so Publication 510, using a landscaper as the example
The rate for gasoline $.183 a gallon (Form 4136, line 1a)
Undyed diesel in the same use $.243 a gallon (line 3a)
Gas in the truck No. It is a highway vehicle
Your own mower at home No. Not business use
Where it goes Form 4136, then Schedule 3 as a refundable credit
Is it taxable? Yes, the following year, on Schedule C line 6
Who can claim Only whoever bought the fuel

The example the IRS chose

Publication 510 defines off-highway business use as fuel used in a trade or business "other than as a fuel in a highway vehicle registered or required to be registered for use on public highways." It then says what that usually does not include:

"Generally, this use doesn't include nonbusiness use of fuel, such as use by minibikes, snowmobiles, power lawn mowers, chain saws, and other yard equipment."

And straight after, the exception that is the subject of this article:

"Shannon owns a landscaping business. Shannon uses power lawn mowers and chain saws in the landscaping business. The gasoline used in the power lawn mowers and chain saws qualifies as fuel used in an off-highway business use. The gasoline used in the personal lawn mower at home doesn't qualify."

The same machine can be on either side of the line. A mower is yard equipment when it cuts your grass and business equipment when it cuts a client's. What decides it is the use, not the machine.

What counts and what does not

Fuel used in Qualifies? Why
Push and ride-on mowers on client jobs Yes The IRS's own example
Trimmers, edgers, blowers, chain saws Yes Same use, same example
A generator or compressor on site Yes Publication 510 lists stationary machines
The pickup or van No A registered highway vehicle
The mower at your own house No Personal, and the example says so
Fuel the company you work for supplied No Only the buyer can claim
Dyed diesel No Only the 0.1-cent LUST tax was charged

The truck is the row that matters. For most crews it burns more fuel than all the equipment put together, and none of it qualifies. Publication 510 defines a highway vehicle as one "designed to carry a load over public highways", which a pickup is whatever it happens to be towing.

The practical problem is the pumpMost landscapers fill the truck and the gas cans in the same stop, on the same receipt. The claim is only for the gallons that went into the cans. If you do not record the split at the pump, you have nothing to support a figure with later.

A worked example

A two-person crew runs its mowers, trimmers and blowers on gasoline bought at the pump. Across 2026:

Fuel Gallons Rate Credit
Gas cans for equipment on client jobs 1,100 $.183 $201.30
The pickup 2,400 — $0
The owner's own lawn at home 15 — $0
Total $201.30

It is not a fortune. It is, however, money that was never owed, and it comes back as a refundable credit: it is paid even in a year when there is no income tax to reduce.

A larger operation burning 4,000 gallons in its equipment would claim $732.00. That is still under $750 for the year, which matters for one reason. Publication 510 says tax on fuel used for nontaxable uses can be claimed "only as a credit on Form 4136" if "the total for your tax year is less than $750." Above that, Publication 510 allows a refund claim on Form 8849 for any quarter that reaches $750. Below it, the annual return is the only route.

How the credit is claimed

The claim is made on Form 4136 and filed with the return:

  1. Part I asks whether you have a qualifying business activity. It then asks for the principal business activity code (landscaping services is 561730 in the Schedule C instructions) and the make, model and type of the equipment that used most of the fuel.
  2. Line 1a is gasoline in off-highway business use: type of use 2, the gallons, the actual fuel cost from your records, and the credit. Column (d), the actual fuel cost, is new on the 2025 form.
  3. The total goes to Schedule 3 (Form 1040). On the 2025 form that is line 12, "Credit for federal tax on fuels", in Part II, Other Payments and Refundable Credits.

The Form 4136 instructions add a sentence worth reading before filling any of it in:

"Falsely claiming the FTC will result in severe consequences, including civil and criminal penalties."

The same instructions warn that gas used "for personal use, commuting to work, or driving for ride sharing services" does not qualify. A landscaper claiming truck fuel as equipment fuel is making the same mistake.

The part that comes back next year

You almost certainly deducted the full cost of the fuel, including the tax, as a business expense. The credit therefore gives back tax you have already deducted, and Publication 510 has it included in income:

"If you claim a credit on your income tax return, include the credit amount in gross income for the tax year in which you file Form 4136."

For the crew above, the 2026 return is filed in 2027, so the $201.30 is income on the 2027 Schedule C. The Schedule C instructions list it under line 6, other income: "Credit for federal tax paid on fuels claimed on your 2024 Form 1040" appears on the 2025 instructions, one year behind in exactly this way.

This is easy to forget, because nothing reminds you. No form arrives for it. Put it in next year's file on the day you claim it.

Where this sits with the rest of the business

The IRS uses lawn care twice. Here it is the example of a business using fuel. On the household employee page it is the example of someone who is not an employee: John Peters "runs a lawn care business and offers his services to the general public" with his own tools and his own helpers. The two go together. The credit is for a trade or business, and a yard worker employed by a single household is not running one. The IRS's list of household work names "Yard workers" outright.

If you are a business, the rest of the equipment question is familiar ground. The mowers and trimmers themselves are depreciable or deductible as tools. And the year you take on a helper, the rules about who you should and should not send a 1099 to become yours.

What to keep

Keep Why
Pump receipts, split between truck and cans The only evidence of qualifying gallons
A running log of gallons into equipment Form 4136 asks for gallons and actual cost
Which machine uses most of the fuel Part I asks for its make, model and type
A note of the credit claimed It is next year's Schedule C line 6 income

The Form 4136 instructions require records "for at least 3 years from the date the return is due or filed, whichever is later." If you have been landscaping for years without claiming, Publication 510 allows the claim on an amended return, generally within three years of filing or two years of paying the tax, whichever is later.

Common questions

Can a landscaper really claim back the tax on mower gas?
Yes, and the IRS uses a landscaper to say so. Publication 510: "Shannon owns a landscaping business. Shannon uses power lawn mowers and chain saws in the landscaping business. The gasoline used in the power lawn mowers and chain saws qualifies as fuel used in an off-highway business use."
How much is it?
Form 4136 for 2025 prints $.183 a gallon for gasoline in off-highway business use (line 1a, type of use 2). The 2026 draft of the form carries the same rate. Undyed diesel in the same use is $.243 on line 3a.
Does the fuel in my truck count?
No. Off-highway business use means fuel used in a trade or business "other than as a fuel in a highway vehicle registered or required to be registered for use on public highways." A pickup is a highway vehicle. The trailer behind it changes nothing.
What about the mower at my own house?
Also no. Publication 510 says in the same example: "The gasoline used in the personal lawn mower at home doesn't qualify." It is the business use that qualifies, not the machine.
Where does the credit go on my return?
On Form 4136, and from there to Schedule 3 (Form 1040) — line 12 on the 2025 form, "Credit for federal tax on fuels. Attach Form 4136." It sits in Part II, Other Payments and Refundable Credits, so it is paid even if you owe no income tax.
Is the credit taxable?
Yes, if you deducted the full cost of the fuel including the tax, which most people do. Publication 510: if you claim a credit on your income tax return, "include the credit amount in gross income for the tax year in which you file Form 4136." The Schedule C instructions list it among the items for line 6, other income.
I subcontract for a bigger landscaping company. Can I claim it?
Only if you bought the fuel. The Form 4136 instructions: "The ultimate purchaser of the gasoline is the only person eligible to make this claim." If the company fills your equipment from its own tank, the claim is theirs.
My mowers run on dyed diesel. Is there anything to claim?
No. Publication 510: "Only the $0.001 LUST tax applies to dyed diesel fuel", and that part is generally not refunded, so there is nothing to give back. The Form 4136 diesel line asks you to certify that the fuel "did not contain visible evidence of dye."
What records does the IRS want?
Gallons and cost, split between equipment and vehicles. Form 4136 now asks for the actual fuel cost from your records beside the gallons, and the instructions say "The IRS may ask you later for proof, such as receipts of the actual costs you paid for each fuel type." Keep them at least three years from the later of the due date or the filing date.
Can I claim it for past years?
Publication 510: "You may be able to make a fuel tax claim on an amended income tax return for the year you used the fuel," generally within 3 years of filing the original return or 2 years of paying the tax, whichever is later.

This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. Consult a qualified tax professional about your situation.

Official sources