The following motor vehicles are subject to the Highway Use Tax permit requirements:

 

Any truck, tractor, or other self-propelled vehicle with a gross weight of more than 18,000 pounds (see Excluded and Exempt Vehicles section).

Any trailer, semi trailer, dolly, or other drawn vehicle transporting automotive fuel that has a gross weight of more than 18,000 pounds.

If a carrier uses the unloaded weight method to calculate the Highway Use Tax, any truck with an unloaded weight of more than 8,000 pounds and any tractor with an unloaded weight of more than 4,000 pounds are also subject to the Highway Use Tax permit requirements.

 

Automotive fuel includes diesel motor fuel (kerosene, kero-jet fuel, No. 2 heating oil, and other fuels commonly used in diesel engines) and motor fuel (gasoline, aviation gas, benzol, and other fuel suitable for use in motor vehicle engines other than diesel engines).

 

The gross weight of a motor vehicle is its actual unloaded weight plus the heaviest combined weight of any trailer, semi trailer, dolly, or combination of attached vehicles and the maximum load to be carried or drawn by the motor vehicle on New York State public highways. For a trailer, semi trailer, dolly, or other drawn vehicle that transports automotive fuel, the gross weight includes the weight of the heaviest tractor or other self-propelled vehicle that draws it and the weight of the maximum load to be carried or drawn in New York State. The gross weight of a tow truck does not include the weight of any vehicle it pulls.

 

The unloaded weight is the actual weight of the motor vehicle, excluding the weight of the driver or any passenger. The unloaded weight includes all permanently attached equipment necessary for its performance as a vehicle or for its safety, or used exclusively for the protection of its load, or for loading or unloading. It also includes full fuel tanks.

The following vehicles are excluded from the Highway Use Tax permit requirement:

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*Road Roller

*Tractor Cranes

*Truck Cranes

*Power Shovels

*Snow Plows

*Road Sweepers

*Sand Spreaders

*Well Drillers

*Buses



Road-Building Machines (any of the several machines that are useful in constructing highways but do not transport property over public highways. Common examples of road -building machines are motor graders and scrapers, which move ponderously from job to job. Even if these machines are used in a project other than building or repairing a highway, they will not need a permit. Dump trucks, tank trucks, concrete mixers, and any other vehicles that transport property over the public highways are not road-building machines. Concrete pumps and other vehicles with a conventional truck chassis are not road-building machines.)

In order to be excluded from the permit requirements, the vehicles must be used for the purpose for which they were designed. They may not be used to deliver passengers or materials. If a carrier intends to use an excluded vehicle for any other purpose, the carrier must first obtain a permit and will then be required to file a tax return to report and pay tax on the mileage traveled during the non-excluded use.

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The following vehicles are exempt from the Highway Use Tax:

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*Vehicles engaged exclusively in the transportation of United States mail under a contract;

*Vehicles operated by any agency or department of the United States, or any state, county, city, town, or municipality;

*Vehicles owned and operated by farmers to transport their own agricultural products, pulpwood, or livestock (including packed, processed, or manufactured products) that were originally grown or raised on their own farms or orchards; or in transporting farm products from farms contiguous to their own; or when used to transport supplies and equipment for use or consumption on their own farms;

*Vehicles used exclusively to transport household goods under authority of the New York State or the United States Department of Transportation;

*Vehicles owned and operated by any fire company or department as defined in section 3 of the Volunteer Firemen's Benefit Law.

*Recreational vehicles (vehicles such as motor homes, pickup trucks with attached campers, and buses) used exclusively for personal pleasure by an individual and not used in any business endeavor.

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Please Keep for Your Records. To be exempt, the vehicle must be used exclusively for the exempt activity. It may not be used to deliver passengers or materials. If a carrier intends to use an exempt vehicle in a nonexempt way, the carrier must first obtain a permit and will then be required to file a return to report and pay tax on both the exempt and nonexempt mileage for the entire calendar month.