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Carriers must file Form 2290 and Schedule 1 if a taxable highway motor vehicle is registered, or required to be registered in your name under any state or District of Columbia, Canadian, or Mexican law at the time of its first use. (If the vehicle has dual registration in both the name of the owner and another person, the owner is responsible for filing the tax.)
Scope
The Heavy Vehicle Use Tax (HVUT) applies to highway motor vehicles having a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more and includes trucks, tractors, and buses. You may be an individual, corporation, partnership, or any other type of organization (including nonprofit charitable, educational, etc.).
Regulatory citations
- 26 CFR Part 41, Subpart B — Tax on Use of Certain Highway Motor Vehicles
Key definitions
- Highway motor vehicle: Any self-propelled vehicle designed to carry a load over public highways.
- Public highway: Any road in the United States that is not a private roadway, and includes Federal, state, county, and city roads.
Summary of requirements
Schedule 1 of the Form 2290 is used to list all reportable vehicles by category and vehicle identification number (VIN). The requirement for taxpayers with 25 vehicles or more to file the HVUT electronically exists in regulation; however, the IRS will process returns submitted on paper, will not consider them to be late, nor will they issue penalties for not filing electronically. Regardless of this, taxpayers are still encouraged to file electronically for faster service and more accurate returns. Visit www.2290online.com to file.
Proof of payment of this tax is required in order to register your vehicle in any jurisdiction, both for the first time and at renewal time. Proof of payment consists of a receipted Schedule 1 of Form 2290 “Heavy Highway Vehicle Use Tax Return” that is returned to the taxpayer by the IRS after the taxpayer has paid tax on the vehicle.
Form 2290 is used to figure and pay any tax due on heavy vehicles, or to claim suspensions of the tax when such vehicles are expected to be used on public highways 5,000 miles or less (7,500 miles or less for agricultural vehicles) during the tax period. (Vehicles used for 5,000 miles or less (7,500 for farm vehicles) are required to file a return but are excluded from paying the tax.)
Important dates
The tax period begins on July 1 and ends the following June 30, and you must pay the full year’s tax on all vehicles that you have in use during the month of July. The tax balance due shown on the form must be paid in full when filing Form 2290. Returns must be filed by the last day of the month following the month of the vehicle’s first taxable use in the tax period, even if you are filing the return just to suspend the tax for any vehicle. They must be filed in accordance with the instructions applicable to the form on which the return is made.
Additional filings
If you place an additional taxable truck registered in your name on the road during any month other than July, you are liable for the tax, prorated for the months during which it was in service. You must file Form 2290 for these trucks by the last day of the month following the month the vehicle was first used on public highways.
Returns must also be filed when the taxable gross weight of a vehicle increases during the tax period.
A return must also be filed if a suspension was originally filed because the vehicle expected to operate 5,000/7,500 or fewer miles during the tax period but then exceeded that amount prior to the end of the tax period.
Foreign vehicles. Canadian and Mexican registered vehicles that operate in the United States must also pay the full tax.
Foreign carriers operating taxable vehicles into the United States must carry proof of HVUT tax payment in the vehicles and present it to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials upon request.
Recordkeeping. Records must be kept for all taxable highway vehicles registered in your name, and kept for at least three years after the date the tax is due or paid. You should also keep copies of all returns and schedules you have filed.
Information. Full instructions attached to Form 2290 show who must file, where to file, exemptions from filing, how to pay the tax, recordkeeping requirements, determining the taxable gross weight, and other general information.