Washington, D.C. – The Internal Revenue Service today reminded truckers and other owners of heavy highway vehicles that in most cases, their next federal highway use tax return is due on August 31st, 2012.
The deadline generally applies to Form 2290 and the accompanying tax payment for the tax year that begins on July 1st, 2012, and ends on June 30th, 2013. Returns must be filed and tax payments made by August 31st for vehicles used on the road during July.
The highway use tax applies to highway motor vehicles with a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more, which generally includes trucks, truck tractors, and buses. Ordinarily, vans, pick-ups, and panel trucks are not taxable because they fall below the 55,000-pound threshold. The tax of up to $550.00 per vehicle is based on weight, and a variety of special rules apply, which are explained in the instructions to Form 2290.
Though some taxpayers have the option of filing Form 2290 on paper, the IRS encourages all taxpayers to take advantage of the speed and convenience of filing this form electronically and paying any tax due electronically. Taxpayers reporting 25 or more vehicles must e-file. A list of IRS-approved software providers can be found on www.IRS.gov.
Due to IRS facility maintenance taking place over the Labor Day weekend (from 1:00pm on August 31st to noon on September 4th), the IRS asks taxpayers to e-file Form 2290 before 1:00pm Eastern time on Friday, August 31st.
For those who miss the 1:00pm cutoff, formal guidance announcing an extension to e-file Form 2290 by September 7th will be issued soon. The deadline for filing paper returns is unaffected and those returns must, as usual, be mailed and postmarked by midnight on August 31st.
For more information on the federal highway use tax, visit www.irs.gov/truckers.
