What is HVUT?

HVUT, the federal highway vehicle used tax is an annual tax fee assessed on heavy vehicles, that uses public highways for transportation with gross taxable weight of 55,000 pounds or more. If you are an owner of the taxable heavy highway vehicle or a fleet of vehicles then, you must E-file IRS Form 2290 and must receive the Stamped Schedule 1 from the IRS as a proof of your HVUT Payment. The taxable vehicle gross weight is determined by summing the following :

• Actual unloaded weight of the heavy weight vehicle fully geared up for service.
• Actual weight of semitrailers or trailers that are equipped for service and regularly used with the heavy vehicle.
• The maximum weight carried customarily on the vehicle and the maximum weight carried by the trailers or semitrailers along with the heavyweight vehicle.

The gross taxable weight of the vehicle is the base to fix the HVUT Tax Rates. If the gross weight of a taxable vehicle is inbetween 55,000 to 75,000 lbs, the HVUT is $100 plus $22 per 1,000 pounds over 55,000 lbs. If a taxable vehicle is more than 75,000 lbs, the HVUT is $550 per tax year. This can be illustrated in the table given below :

Many numbers of groups and vehicles are exempted from the HVUT which are discussed under the suspended vehicles section. IRS Heavy Vehicle Used Tax is the primary source of transportation funding in the U.S. that assists in developing the road infrastructure and for the maintenance. The collected truck tax revenue is dispersed among the states based on the tax calculations.

Who Must Pay the HVUT?

The Heavy Vehicle Used Tax period starts from 1st July to June 30th of next year. When a person needs to register or registered a taxable highway vehicle in their name under “State, district of Canadian, Columbia or Mexican” law during the first use of the vehicle, you must figure and pay HVUT to the IRS. Here the “Person” may be a Corporation, Individual, Limited Liability Company(LLC), Partnership or any other type of Organization(including Charitable, Non-profit, Educational Institutions, Trusts etc).

Acceptable Proofs of HVUT Payment

The acceptable proof of HVUT payments can be anyone of the following :

• IRS Schedule(Form 2290) Stamped “Received” by the IRS copy.
• IRS Schedule 1(Form 2290) without stamp receipt copy and proof of payment. Here, the proof of payment is the cancellation cheque used to pay the HVUT.
• IRS Stamped Schedule 1(Form 2290) received from the IRS, which has “IRS E-file” Logo and the “Received Date”. When the filing is done electronically, this is considered as a proof of payment.

Note : If you have more than 25 vehicles with vehicle gross weight over 55,000 pounds, you must E-file HVUT Form 2290 to the IRS.