New York Highway Use Tax: Vehicles Covered, Rates, and Filing

The New York highway use tax is a per-mile tax that heavy trucks, tractors, and other large motor vehicles owe for operating on the state’s public highways. It applies to any motor vehicle with a gross weight above 18,000 pounds, any truck with an unloaded weight above 8,000 pounds, and any tractor with an unloaded weight above 4,000 pounds.¹ Rates run from 6.0 mills to 35.0 mills per mile depending on weight and whether the vehicle is loaded, and only miles on New York public highways count. Toll-paid miles on the Thruway are excluded.² Before you drive, you need a certificate of registration and a decal for each vehicle.

Which Vehicles Are Covered

A vehicle falls under the tax if it meets any one of three weight tests: gross weight over 18,000 pounds, unloaded truck weight over 8,000 pounds, or unloaded tractor weight over 4,000 pounds.¹ Gross weight means the vehicle plus its maximum load. Unloaded weight means the vehicle itself with permanently attached equipment and full fuel tanks, but no cargo and no driver.

Carriers hauling automotive fuel (gasoline, diesel, kerosene, heating oil, and similar petroleum products) have broader coverage. Their “motor vehicle” includes any trailer, semi-trailer, or dolly drawn by the truck if the combination exceeds 18,000 pounds gross, and they need a separate automotive fuel carrier (AFC) certificate for each vehicle used to transport fuel.³

Some heavy equipment is excluded outright, no matter the weight: road rollers, crane trucks, power shovels, snow plows, road sweepers, sand spreaders, and well drillers.¹

Who Is Exempt

Several categories of vehicle are exempt even when the weight thresholds are met:

Vehicles owned and operated by federal, state, county, city, town, or municipal agencies.
Vehicles owned and operated by fire companies as defined under the Volunteer Firefighters’ Benefit Law.
Passenger vehicles for hire that seat more than seven passengers (not counting the driver) and fall under federal or state transportation regulatory jurisdiction.
Farming vehicles used exclusively by a farmer or related entity to haul the farmer’s own crops, livestock, or farm supplies, where the goods were grown or raised on the farmer’s own land or the supplies are destined for use on that farm.⁴

The farm exemption does not cover hauling someone else’s agricultural products for hire.

How the Tax Is Calculated

The tax is a per-mile charge based on vehicle weight. You choose between two methods on your first return of the calendar year, and the choice locks in for the rest of that year.⁵

Under the gross weight method, the rate is tied to the vehicle’s maximum laden weight. Rates begin at 6.0 mills per mile (roughly $0.006) for vehicles in the 18,001- to 20,000-pound bracket and climb across 30 weight brackets. A standard 80,000-pound tractor-trailer sits in the upper brackets at around 35.0 mills per mile ($0.035), and vehicles above 76,001 pounds pay an additional 2 mills per ton beyond that threshold. When a covered vehicle is running empty or pulling an unloaded trailer, a lower “unladen miles” rate within the same method applies.²

Under the unloaded weight method, the rate is based on the vehicle’s actual weight without cargo, including all equipment, permanently attached gear, loading equipment, and full fuel tanks, but not the driver.⁵ This method tends to work better for carriers that often run partially loaded or empty. Tractor rates start at 6.0 mills per mile for an unloaded weight of 7,001 to 8,500 pounds; truck rates start at 6.0 mills for 18,001 to 20,000 pounds.²

To get a sense of scale: a tractor-trailer logging 10,000 New York miles at a 20.0-mill laden rate owes $200 for those miles. Higher mileage inside the state produces proportionally larger bills, which is why the method choice is worth running through both ways.

Registration and Decals

Before any covered vehicle operates on New York highways, you need a highway use tax certificate of registration and a decal for that specific vehicle. You can set up your account two ways.

The paper route is Form TMT-1, the Application for Highway Use Tax and Automotive Fuel Carrier Certificates of Registration and Decals. You submit it to the Department of Taxation and Finance with vehicle details and a $1.50 per-vehicle fee that covers both the certificate and the decal.⁶⁷

The online route starts with Form TMT-39 to establish your account. After that, you use the One Stop Credentialing and Registration (OSCAR) system to request HUT certificates and decals, order duplicates, revise vehicle information, or cancel credentials.⁸

For each vehicle, you’ll provide the VIN, indicate whether it carries automotive fuel (which determines HUT vs. AFC), and specify the maximum gross weight or unloaded weight. Enter the weight carefully. Operating a vehicle above the weight listed on its certificate is itself a separate violation.⁹

Trip Permits for Occasional Travel

If you only pass through New York now and then, a trip certificate avoids full registration. It costs $25 and authorizes operation for three days from the date of issue. No extensions for weekends or holidays. While a trip certificate is active, you don’t file a return or pay per-mile tax on the miles driven under it.¹⁰

Two limits apply. You can buy no more than 10 trip certificates per calendar year, and trip certificates are not available for vehicles transporting automotive fuel. Keep copies of each one for at least four years.¹⁰

Filing Returns and Paying the Tax

Returns go through the Department’s HUT Web File system, which calculates the tax from the mileage and weight data you enter. A paper return on Form MT-903 is also available.⁸ Filing frequency depends on your prior-year highway use tax liability:

Annual filing if your prior-year liability was $1,200 or less and you were subject to the tax for the entire year.
Quarterly filing if your prior-year liability was more than $1,200 but not more than $12,000.
Monthly filing if your prior-year liability was more than $12,000.¹¹

New carriers generally start as quarterly filers until there’s a prior-year history. The Department reclassifies you automatically based on prior-year totals. One caveat: Web File handles returns, not fleet changes. To add or cancel vehicles, go through OSCAR.¹¹

Penalties for Noncompliance

Enforcement runs on two tracks that can stack: criminal fines and civil fines. Operating without a valid certificate or decal is the most common violation.

On the criminal side, a first conviction for operating without proper credentials, operating with a suspended or revoked decal, exceeding the weight listed on your certificate, or violating any other provision of the highway use tax law carries a fine of $100 to $250. A second or subsequent conviction runs $250 to $500 and can include up to 10 days in jail.⁹

On the civil side, operating without a certificate of registration or decal triggers, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, a fine of $500 to $2,000 for a first violation and $1,000 to $3,500 for a second or subsequent violation within three years.¹² These apply on top of any criminal fines.

Filing or paying late brings a penalty of 10% of the tax due, plus 1% for each additional month the failure continues, capped at 30%. If you’re more than 60 days late, the minimum penalty is $100 or the full amount of tax owed, whichever is less. Fraud carries a penalty of twice the tax due, plus interest, and willful evasion, false returns, or fraudulent documents can also be prosecuted under the state’s general tax fraud provisions.¹²⁹

Recordkeeping

Keep all tax returns, mileage logs, and supporting records for at least four years from the return’s due date or the date it was actually filed, whichever is later. Records must be kept within New York unless the Tax Department gives written consent to remove them. Inspectors can request access at any reasonable time, and failing to maintain records is itself a violation with its own penalties.¹³

What the Highway Use Tax Doesn’t Cover

Two other obligations often get confused with the state highway use tax, and paying one doesn’t satisfy another.

The International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) is a separate fuel use tax system for carriers operating qualified motor vehicles in more than one jurisdiction. A qualified motor vehicle has two axles and a gross weight above 26,000 pounds, three or more axles regardless of weight, or a combined weight above 26,000 pounds with a trailer. IFTA returns are filed quarterly and IFTA credentials can be managed through OSCAR, but IFTA is its own license with its own decals.¹⁴

The federal heavy vehicle use tax is also separate. It applies to vehicles with a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds or more, is reported on IRS Form 2290, and runs on a July 1 through June 30 period with an August 31 filing deadline for vehicles in use at the start of the period.¹⁵ The weight thresholds differ from New York’s, so a 40,000-pound truck owes New York highway use tax but no federal heavy vehicle use tax.

1
New York State Senate. New York Tax Code 501 – Definitions
2
New York State Senate. New York Tax Code 503 – Tax
3
New York State Senate. New York Tax Code 502 – Highway Use Registration
4
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Excluded and Exempt Vehicles – Highway Use Tax
5
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. An Introduction to Highway Use Tax
6
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Application for Highway Use Tax and Automotive Fuel Carrier Certificates of Registration
7
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Instructions for Form TMT-1
8
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Highway Use Tax
9
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Summary of Enforcement Provisions – Highway Use Tax
10
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Certificate of Registration – Trip Certificate
11
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Highway Use Tax (HUT) Web File
12
New York State Senate. New York Tax Code 512 – Penalties and Interest
13
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Recordkeeping Requirements – Highway Use Tax
14
New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Fuel Use Tax/International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA)
15
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 2290 (Rev. July 2025)