Chapter 62 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 6 the following section:—

Section 6½. (a) As used in this section the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:—

“Department”, the department of revenue. “Small Business”, a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporate trust, corporation or other business, including its affiliates that is: (i) independently owned and operated, (ii) not dominant in the field of operation in which it is bidding on government contracts, (iii) qualifies as a small business under the criteria and size standards of the Small Business Administration regulations and (iv) is under 500 employees in the manufacturing and mining industries or under 100 employees for all wholesale trade industries or does under $6 million of business annually for retail and service industries or does under $28.5 million of business annually for general & heavy construction industries or does under $12 million of business annually for all special trade contractors and under $0.75 million of business for agricultural industries “Creditable amount”, the monetary amount actually paid by a small business to provide gasoline or diesel for vehicles either owned by company or driven by employees in the normal course of business.

(b) There is hereby established a credit against the tax liability imposed by this chapter for small businesses to be known as the “Small Business Tax Credit”.

(c) The amount of the “Small Business Tax Credit” shall be up to 15 per cent of the creditable amount purchased in the taxable year.

(d) The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations relative to the administration and enforcement of this section.