Most heavy trucks can have the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax suspended if they run 5,000 miles or less on public highways during the July-to-June period. Agricultural vehicles get a higher limit: 7,500 miles. Under that limit the truck owes no tax for the period — but it still goes on a Form 2290 and on the Schedule 1.
What counts as an agricultural vehicle
An agricultural vehicle is any highway motor vehicle that is:
- Used, or expected to be used, primarily for farming purposes; and
- Registered under state law as a highway motor vehicle used for farming purposes for the entire period. A special farm tag or license plate isn't required.
Primarily means more than half of the vehicle's use during the period, measured by mileage, is for farming purposes.
What counts as farming purposes
Farming purposes means transporting any farm commodity to or from a farm, or use directly in agricultural production. A farm commodity is any agricultural or horticultural commodity, feed, seed, fertilizer, livestock, bees, poultry, fur-bearing animals, or wildlife.
A vehicle also counts as used for farming if it contributes to direct agricultural production or in any way to the running of a farm — cultivating soil, raising or harvesting crops, clearing land, repairing fences and farm buildings, building terraces or irrigation ditches, cleaning tools or machinery, and painting.
Processing breaks the chain. A commodity changed from its raw or natural state by processing isn't a farm commodity — the IRS's own example is juice extracted from fruits or vegetables — and use in canning, freezing, packaging, or other processing operations isn't farming use.
Which miles count toward 7,500
Only public-highway miles count. Don't include miles the vehicle is driven on the farm when deciding whether the 7,500-mile limit has been passed — but keep accurate records of those farm miles anyway.
The limit applies to the vehicle's total highway mileage for the period, regardless of how many owners it had. If you buy a suspended farm truck partway through, the previous owner's highway miles count too.
Mark it suspended and agricultural; the return reports it under category W with no tax due.
How to file Form 2290 for a farm truck
- Create your account and add the business with its EIN. A Social Security number can't be used on Form 2290.
- Start an original return for the month the truck was first used on a public highway this period. That month sets the filing deadline even though no tax is due.
- Add the truck's VIN, mark it as suspended, and mark it as agricultural so the 7,500-mile limit applies.
- E-sign and submit. The truck is listed on your stamped Schedule 1, the proof your state looks for at registration.
For the general rules on suspended trucks and category W, see suspended vehicles and category W.
If the farm truck goes over 7,500 miles
Once a suspended vehicle passes the mileage limit, the tax becomes due. You file an amended Form 2290 reporting the tax for the period, figured from the month the truck was first used, by the last day of the month after the month the limit was exceeded. See what to do when a suspended truck goes over its mileage limit.
If you paid tax and stayed under 7,500
If you paid the tax for a period on a farm truck that ended up running 7,500 highway miles or less, you can claim it back — but only after the period ends. The credit goes on the first Form 2290 you file for the next period, or you can claim a refund on Form 8849 after June 30. More in Form 2290 credits and refunds.
Records to keep
For a suspended vehicle, keep a record of actual highway mileage, and for an agricultural vehicle keep accurate records of the miles driven on the farm. Keep the records for at least 3 years after the end of the period the suspension applies to.