Form 2290 Taxable Vehicles: What is a Logging Vehicle?

| December 12, 2014

| Expresstrucktax.com, Form 2290, HVUT, Truck Tax

What is considered a logging vehicle?

It’s a question our Support Heroes get quite often. That’s because when filing your IRS Form 2290, you will be asked to indicate whether any of your taxable vehicles are used for logging.

Some confuse the term “logging vehicle” with any vehicle that tracks (logs) mileage or fuel. For the purposes of Form 2290, however, logging vehicle refers only to vehicles used to haul…well…logs!– as in wood or other products from the forest.

How you answer this question is important because logging vehicles are taxed at reduced rates.

To ensure you’re paying the correct tax, check if your logging vehicle fits the IRS criteria below:

1. The vehicle is used exclusively to transport materials harvested from a forested site, OR the vehicle is used exclusively to transport harvested materials from one forested site to another forested site. If your vehicle runs between forested sites, it can use public highways in between those sites and still be considered a logging vehicle.

-AND-

2. The vehicle is registered in your base state (or any other states in which it is required to be registered) as a highway motor vehicle used exclusively for the transport of harvested materials from a forested site. Although the truck must be registered as a “logging vehicle” in your state, no special tag or license plate is required to identify the vehicle as a logging vehicle.

So the vehicle must be registered as a logging vehicle, and it must be used to transport harvested forest materials only– but what does the IRS consider “harvested material”?

According to IRS guidelines, harvested products can include any raw timber taken from a forest, OR any timber that has been processed on the forested site for commercial processes, meaning the timber has already been sawed into lumber, chipped, or milled in some way.

If your vehicle fits these guidelines, then be sure to check the box “Used for Logging” when completing your Form 2290 to reap the rewards of a lower tax rate!

If you have questions about the status of your taxable vehicle, ask our Support Heroes! They know all of the IRS guidelines for logging, agriculture, exempt, suspended vehicles, and more! They provide truck tax support 24/7, 365, so you can always trust them to steer you in the right direction!

Call them now at our headquarters in Rock Hill, SC, at 704.234.6005 or email them at support@expresstrucktax.com for ‘round the clock assistance.