Sec. 40. (a) Each person operating a refinery, terminal, or bulk plant in Indiana shall prepare and provide to the driver of every vehicle receiving special fuel at the facility a shipping document setting out on its face the destination state as represented to the terminal operator by the shipper or the shipper's agent, except that an operator of a bulk plant in Indiana delivering special fuel into a vehicle with a capacity of not more than five thousand four hundred (5,400) gallons for subsequent delivery to an end consumer in Indiana is exempt from this requirement.

(b) Every person transporting special fuel in vehicles upon the Indiana public highways shall carry on board a shipping paper issued by the terminal operator or the bulk plant operator of the facility where the special fuel was obtained, which shipping paper shall set out on its face the state of destination of the special fuel transported in the vehicle, except that operators of vehicles with a capacity of not more than five thousand four hundred (5,400) gallons that have received special fuel at a bulk plant in Indiana for delivery to an end consumer in Indiana are exempt from this provision with respect to the special fuel. A person who violates this subsection commits a Class A infraction (as defined in IC 34-28-5-4).

(c) Every person transporting special fuel in vehicles upon the public highways of Indiana shall provide the original or a copy of the terminal issued shipping document accompanying the shipment to the operator of the retail outlet or bulk plant to which delivery of the shipment was made. A person who knowingly violates or knowingly aids and abets another person in violating this subsection commits a Level 6 felony.

(d) Each operator of a special fuel retail outlet or bulk plant shall receive, examine, and retain for a period of thirty (30) days at the delivery location the terminal issued shipping document received from the transporter for every shipment of special fuel that is delivered to that location, with record retention of the shipping paper of three (3) years required offsite. A person who knowingly violates or knowingly aids and abets another person in violating this subsection commits a Level 6 felony.

(e) No bulk end user, retail dealer, bulk plant operator, or wholesale distributor shall knowingly accept delivery of special fuel into storage facilities in Indiana if that delivery is not accompanied by a shipping paper issued by the terminal operator or bulk plant operator that sets out on its face Indiana as the state of destination of the special fuel. A person who knowingly violates or knowingly aids and abets another person in violating this subsection commits a Level 6 felony.

(f) The department shall provide for relief in a case where a shipment of special fuel is legitimately diverted from the represented destination state after the shipping paper has been issued by the terminal operator or where the terminal operator failed to cause proper information to be printed on the shipping paper. These relief provisions shall include a provision requiring that the shipper or its agent obtain a diversion number within twenty-four (24) hours of the diversion and report the number on the shipper's or agent's monthly return to the department, and the relief provision shall be consistent with the refund provisions of this chapter.

(g) The supplier and the terminal operator shall be entitled to rely for all purposes of this chapter on the representation by the shipper or the shipper's agent as to the shipper's intended state of destination or tax exempt use. The shipper, the importer, the transporter, the shipper's agent, and any purchaser, not the supplier or terminal operator, shall be jointly liable for any tax otherwise due to the state as a result of a diversion of the special fuel from the represented destination state.

As added by P.L.277-1993(ss), SEC.44. Amended by P.L.18-1994, SEC.29; P.L.85-1995, SEC.24; P.L.1-1998, SEC.80; P.L.158-2013, SEC.96; P.L.234-2019, SEC.21.