PRIA Logo™
Title 26 — Internal Revenue CodeRelease 119-73

§6715 Dyed Fuel Sold for Use or Used in Taxable Use, Etc.

Title 26 › Subtitle Subtitle F— Procedure and Administration › Chapter 68— ADDITIONS TO THE TAX, ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS, AND ASSESSABLE PENALTIES › Subchapter B— Assessable Penalties › Part I— GENERAL PROVISIONS › § 6715

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Dyed diesel fuel and kerosene are meant only for nontaxable uses, and misusing them brings a penalty. You can be penalized for selling or holding dyed fuel for a use you know (or should know) is taxable, for using it that way, for tampering with the dye, or for knowingly selling tampered fuel. The penalty for each act is the greater of $1,000 or $10 per gallon involved, and the $1,000 amount grows with each prior penalty you or a related business has received. If a business is penalized, any officer, employee, or agent who willfully took part is personally liable too. Once you have been penalized at least twice based on chemical analysis of the fuel, you lose the right to an administrative appeal of a new finding, except for claims of fraud or mistake in the analysis or a math error in the penalty.

Full Legal Text

Title 26, §6715

Internal Revenue Code — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)If—
(1)any dyed fuel is sold or held for sale by any person for any use which such person knows or has reason to know is not a nontaxable use of such fuel,
(2)any dyed fuel is held for use or used by any person for a use other than a nontaxable use and such person knew, or had reason to know, that such fuel was so dyed,
(3)any person willfully alters, chemically or otherwise, or attempts to so alter, the strength or composition of any dye or marking done pursuant to section 4082 in any dyed fuel, or
(4)any person who has knowledge that a dyed fuel which has been altered as described in paragraph (3) sells or holds for sale such fuel for any use which the person knows or has reason to know is not a nontaxable use of such fuel,
(b)(1)Except as provided in paragraph (2), the amount of the penalty under subsection (a) on each act shall be the greater of—
(A)$1,000, or
(B)$10 for each gallon of the dyed fuel involved.
(2)In determining the penalty under subsection (a) on any person, paragraph (1) shall be applied by increasing the amount in paragraph (1)(A) by the product of such amount and the number of prior penalties (if any) imposed by this section on such person (or a related person or any predecessor of such person or related person).
(c)For purposes of this section—
(1)The term “dyed fuel” means any dyed diesel fuel or kerosene, whether or not the fuel was dyed pursuant to section 4082.
(2)The term “nontaxable use” has the meaning given such term by section 4082(b).
(d)If a penalty is imposed under this section on any business entity, each officer, employee, or agent of such entity who willfully participated in any act giving rise to such penalty shall be jointly and severally liable with such entity for such penalty.
(e)In the case of any person who is found to be subject to the penalty under this section after a chemical analysis of such fuel and who has been penalized under this section at least twice after the date of the enactment of this subsection, no administrative appeal or review shall be allowed with respect to such finding except in the case of a claim regarding—
(1)fraud or mistake in the chemical analysis, or
(2)mathematical calculation of the amount of the penalty.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of the enactment of this subsection, referred to in subsec. (e), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 108–357, which was approved Oct. 22, 2004.

Amendments

2004—Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 108–357, § 856(a), which directed amendment of par. (2) by striking “or”, was executed by striking “or” at the end. Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 108–357, § 856(b), substituted “alters, chemically or otherwise, or attempts to so alter,” for “alters, or attempts to alter,”. Pub. L. 108–357, § 856(a), inserted “or” at end. Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 108–357, § 856(a), added par. (4). Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 108–357, § 855(a), added subsec. (e). 1997—Subsec. (c)(1). Pub. L. 105–34 inserted “or kerosene” after “diesel fuel”. 1996—Pub. L. 104–188 renumbered section 6714 of this title as this section.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2004 Amendment Pub. L. 108–357, title VIII, § 855(b), Oct. 22, 2004, 118 Stat. 1616, provided that: “The amendment made by this section [amending this section] shall apply to penalties assessed after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 22, 2004].” Pub. L. 108–357, title VIII, § 856(c), Oct. 22, 2004, 118 Stat. 1617, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by this section [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 22, 2004].”

Effective Date

of 1997 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 105–34 effective July 1, 1998, see section 1032(f)(1) of Pub. L. 105–34, as amended, set out as a note under section 4041 of this title.

Effective Date

Section effective Jan. 1, 1994, see section 13242(e) of Pub. L. 103–66, set out as an

Effective Date

of 1993 Amendment note under section 4041 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

26 U.S.C. § 6715

Title 26 — Internal Revenue Code

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73