The Connecticut Highway Use Tax, officially the Highway Use Fee, is a per-mile charge on heavy commercial trucks weighing 26,000 pounds or more that drive on Connecticut’s public roads. It took effect January 1, 2023, and the money goes into the state’s Special Transportation Fund for road and bridge work.1Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Highway Use Fee Information If your vehicles qualify, you need to register with the Department of Revenue Services, track your Connecticut mileage, and file a return every quarter.
Which Trucks Owe the Fee
Two conditions have to be met. The vehicle’s gross weight must be 26,000 pounds or more, and it must fall in Class 8 through Class 13 of the Federal Highway Administration’s classification system.1Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Highway Use Fee Information Those classes cover heavy single-unit trucks and multi-unit tractor-trailer combinations used in commercial freight.
Gross weight means the truck plus whatever it’s carrying. So a truck registered at 24,000 pounds can still trigger the fee if a load pushes the combined weight to 26,000 or above. Both Connecticut-based carriers and out-of-state operators owe the fee for miles driven on Connecticut roads.
Vehicles That Are Exempt
Some heavy vehicles are carved out even if they otherwise fit the weight and class rules. Federal, state, and local government vehicles used for public purposes don’t owe the fee, and neither do school buses. Farm vehicles used exclusively for agriculture are exempt, and the law specifically excludes trucks hauling milk to or from dairy farms. Ambulances and most emergency vehicles rarely come up because they typically sit in Class 3, well below the Class 8 minimum.1Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Highway Use Fee Information
How to Register
Before running an eligible vehicle in Connecticut, you need a Highway Use Fee Permit from DRS. There’s no registration fee, and everything is handled online through the myconneCT portal.2Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Registering for Highway Use Fee1Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Highway Use Fee Information
If you already have a DRS account, log in to myconneCT and add the Highway Use Fee under Taxpayer Updates. If you’re new, you’ll create an account and complete the REG-1 application, which asks for your business type, address, NAICS code, and owner or officer information for at least two individuals. Have your vehicle identification numbers and gross weight documentation ready before you start.2Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Registering for Highway Use Fee
How the Fee Is Calculated
Multiply your Connecticut miles by the per-mile rate for your vehicle’s weight bracket. Rates are progressive: heavier trucks pay more per mile. A vehicle weighing 26,000 to 28,000 pounds pays $0.025 per mile. Anything over 80,000 pounds pays $0.175 per mile.1Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Highway Use Fee Information Each vehicle in a fleet is calculated on its own weight.
The full rate table:
- 26,000–28,000 lbs: $0.0250/mile
- 28,001–30,000 lbs: $0.0279/mile
- 30,001–32,000 lbs: $0.0308/mile
- 32,001–34,000 lbs: $0.0337/mile
- 34,001–36,000 lbs: $0.0365/mile
- 36,001–38,000 lbs: $0.0394/mile
- 38,001–40,000 lbs: $0.0423/mile
- 40,001–42,000 lbs: $0.0452/mile
- 42,001–44,000 lbs: $0.0481/mile
- 44,001–46,000 lbs: $0.0510/mile
- 46,001–48,000 lbs: $0.0538/mile
- 48,001–50,000 lbs: $0.0567/mile
- 50,001–52,000 lbs: $0.0596/mile
- 52,001–54,000 lbs: $0.0625/mile
- 54,001–56,000 lbs: $0.0654/mile
- 56,001–58,000 lbs: $0.0683/mile
- 58,001–60,000 lbs: $0.0712/mile
- 60,001–62,000 lbs: $0.0740/mile
- 62,001–64,000 lbs: $0.0769/mile
- 64,001–66,000 lbs: $0.0798/mile
- 66,001–68,000 lbs: $0.0827/mile
- 68,001–70,000 lbs: $0.0856/mile
- 70,001–72,000 lbs: $0.0885/mile
- 72,001–74,000 lbs: $0.0913/mile
- 74,001–76,000 lbs: $0.0942/mile
- 76,001–78,000 lbs: $0.0971/mile
- 78,001–80,000 lbs: $0.1000/mile
- 80,001 lbs and over: $0.1750/mile
Watch the top bracket. A truck at exactly 80,000 pounds pays $0.10 per mile; one pound over that jumps to $0.175. If your loads regularly put you near that line, it’s worth planning around.
Miles on the Merritt Parkway and Wilbur Cross Parkway don’t count, because heavy commercial vehicles aren’t allowed on those roads to begin with. Only miles on Connecticut highways where these trucks are legally permitted get included.
Quarterly Filing Deadlines
Returns are filed quarterly and are due by the last day of the month following the end of each calendar quarter.1Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Highway Use Fee Information3Connecticut Data. Highway Use Fee by Filing Period
- Q1 (January–March): due April 30
- Q2 (April–June): due July 31
- Q3 (July–September): due October 31
- Q4 (October–December): due January 31
You file and pay through myconneCT, which accepts ACH debit and credit card. Save the confirmation receipt each quarter.
One trap catches carriers off guard: you have to file a return for every quarter you hold a permit, even if you drove zero Connecticut miles.1Connecticut State Department of Revenue Services. Highway Use Fee Information Skipping a zero-mileage quarter counts as a missed filing.
Records You Have to Keep
Carriers must maintain a monthly list of every eligible vehicle they operated or caused to be operated in Connecticut. The records have to be kept at least four years and produced for DRS on request.4Connecticut General Assembly. Public Act Summary – An Act Concerning a Highway Use Fee
In practice that means mileage logs, weight documentation, and trip records for every truck that crosses into the state. Digital logs from ELD or GPS systems make this easier, but whatever you use, the detail needs to support the numbers on your quarterly returns if you’re audited. If a vehicle’s weight changes because of modifications, update the registration so the correct rate bracket applies going forward.
Penalties for Late Filing or Payment
Under the DRS penalty framework, a late filing carries a $50 penalty. If you file on time but pay late, the penalty is 10% of the unpaid amount. When a return is both late and unpaid, DRS applies the 10% late-payment penalty rather than stacking both. Interest runs on unpaid balances at roughly 1% per month until you pay in full.
Repeatedly missed filings can also lead to an administrative hold on your Highway Use Fee Permit, which would make it illegal to operate eligible vehicles on Connecticut roads until you bring the account current.
Disputing an Assessment
If DRS sends a notice of assessment you think is wrong, start informally by contacting the manager or supervisor of the office that ran the audit. If that doesn’t resolve it, DRS issues a formal notice of assessment.5Connecticut General Assembly. Tax Appeal Process in Connecticut and Other States
From the date on that formal notice, you have 60 days to file a written protest with the DRS Appellate Division. For a jeopardy assessment, the window is 10 days. The Appellate Division reviews the case and issues a final determination letter. If you still disagree, you have one month from that letter to appeal to the Superior Court in the New Britain Judicial District.5Connecticut General Assembly. Tax Appeal Process in Connecticut and Other States Once the 60 days close, your options narrow considerably, so calendar the deadline the day the notice arrives.