Form 2290 tax is not negotiable and not estimated. It is set by the vehicle's taxable gross weight and the number of months it is used during the period. Get the weight category right and the tax follows automatically.
What taxable gross weight means
Taxable gross weight is not the weight of the empty truck, and it is not what the vehicle happens to weigh on a given day. It is the total of:
- The actual unloaded weight of the vehicle fully equipped for service.
- The actual unloaded weight of any trailers or semitrailers fully equipped for service, customarily used in combination with the vehicle.
- The weight of the maximum load customarily carried on the vehicle and on those trailers or semitrailers.
The phrase doing the work is "customarily carried." This is about how the vehicle is normally operated, not its heaviest-ever load and not its lightest.
The 55,000 lb threshold
The Heavy Vehicle Use Tax applies to highway motor vehicles with a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more. Below that, the vehicle is not taxable — which is why vans, pickups, and panel trucks generally fall outside it entirely.
Category A starts exactly at 55,000 lb. Each subsequent category covers a 1,000 lb band, up to category V for anything over 75,000 lb.
The full 2026–2027 rate table
These are the annual rates for a vehicle used the full 12-month period. A vehicle first used after July pays a prorated partial-period amount instead. The same table is on the weight categories and rates page.
| Category | Taxable gross weight (lb) | Standard (annual) | Logging (annual) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 55,000 lb | $100.00 | $75.00 |
| B | 55,001–56,000 | $122.00 | $91.50 |
| C | 56,001–57,000 | $144.00 | $108.00 |
| D | 57,001–58,000 | $166.00 | $124.50 |
| E | 58,001–59,000 | $188.00 | $141.00 |
| F | 59,001–60,000 | $210.00 | $157.50 |
| G | 60,001–61,000 | $232.00 | $174.00 |
| H | 61,001–62,000 | $254.00 | $190.50 |
| I | 62,001–63,000 | $276.00 | $207.00 |
| J | 63,001–64,000 | $298.00 | $223.50 |
| K | 64,001–65,000 | $320.00 | $240.00 |
| L | 65,001–66,000 | $342.00 | $256.50 |
| M | 66,001–67,000 | $364.00 | $273.00 |
| N | 67,001–68,000 | $386.00 | $289.50 |
| O | 68,001–69,000 | $408.00 | $306.00 |
| P | 69,001–70,000 | $430.00 | $322.50 |
| Q | 70,001–71,000 | $452.00 | $339.00 |
| R | 71,001–72,000 | $474.00 | $355.50 |
| S | 72,001–73,000 | $496.00 | $372.00 |
| T | 73,001–74,000 | $518.00 | $388.50 |
| U | 74,001–75,000 | $540.00 | $405.00 |
| V | over 75,000 | $550.00 | $412.50 |
Logging vehicles pay less
A vehicle used exclusively to transport products harvested from a forested site, and registered as a logging vehicle under state law, is taxed at a reduced rate in every weight category — the right-hand column above.
Both conditions matter. Exclusive use for forest products, and the state registration. A truck that hauls logs sometimes does not qualify.
Category W: suspended
There is a twenty-second category that carries no rate. Category W is for suspended vehicles — those expected to run 5,000 miles or less during the period, or 7,500 miles or less for agricultural vehicles. No tax is due, but the vehicle still has to be reported and it still appears on your Schedule 1.
Partial-period tax
The table above is the full-period tax. A vehicle first used in a later month is taxed only for the months remaining in the period, so a truck first used in January is taxed for six months rather than twelve.
This is why the first-used month matters as much as the weight category. Two identical trucks in the same weight category can owe very different amounts if one started in July and the other in March. Start a return and the partial-period amount is figured from the first-used month you enter.
Getting the category wrong
Understating the weight underpays the tax, and if the weight is later corrected upward the difference becomes due. If the taxable gross weight genuinely increases mid-period into a higher category, that is reported through a gross weight increase amendment, with the additional tax due by the last day of the following month.
Overstating it simply means paying more than you owed. The IRS will not flag that for you.