Its an excise on fuel used in on road vehicles to pay for the building and maintenance of roads. Mining vehicles and tractors on farm don't use the roads and are not liable to pay the tax. Over the years the fuel was always tax exempt but then they changed it so that farmers and miners paid the tax upfront and then claimed it back. This was a real pain in the butt as it created more paperwork but I guess the govt. got the use of other peoples money for a while. I always new that people would claim that this was a subsidy but farmers and miners are only claiming back what never should have been taken in the first place. But lefties love it as they use it as part of their Gish Galloping.
