IRP, IFTA, NY HUT and Form 2290 — which ones does your truck owe?
You rarely owe just one, and they are three different kinds of thing. Form 2290 is federal: it turns on the vehicle's weight — 55,000 lbs or more — and on nothing else, wherever you drive. IRP and IFTA turn on crossing a state line with a qualifying vehicle — and apportioned plates are one way to be legal in a state you are not based in, not the only one. And five states — New York, Connecticut, New Mexico, Oregon and Kentucky — tax the miles you run inside them, each on its own terms; a truck whose routes never enter those five owes none of them, at any weight. Paying one never covers another. One does come first, though: at a taxable gross weight of 55,000 lbs and up a state must see the stamped Schedule 1 that Form 2290 produces before it registers the vehicle, with a narrow exception for a truck bought in the previous 60 days. So 2290 is not just another bill — it gates your plates.
Which ones apply, and what sets each one off
Three things decide this, and weight is only the first. What the vehicle IS — its weight, its axles, whether it is a straight truck or a combination — decides what can reach it at all. Whether it crosses a state line decides IRP and IFTA. And which states it actually runs in decides the five state taxes, one state at a time: a truck that never enters New York, Connecticut, New Mexico, Oregon or Kentucky owes none of those five, at any weight. Each row below states its own full test, so you do not have to carry a rule down the page.
| Filing | Applies when | What it is | Who charges it | How often |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Form 2290 | The vehicle is rated 55,000 lbs or more. Federal — your route makes no difference to it | The federal heavy vehicle use tax — filed even when the mileage suspension leaves no tax to pay; you get a stamped Schedule 1 | The IRS | Once a year |
| IRP | You cross a state line hauling property, or passengers for hire, over 26,000 lbs or with 3 or more axles at any weight | A registration — apportioned plates and a cab card carried in the vehicle. It is one way to be legal in a state you are not based in, not the only one | 48 US states, Washington DC and 10 Canadian provinces, through your base jurisdiction | Once a year, at renewal |
| IFTA | You run in 2 or more jurisdictions, over 26,000 lbs or with 3 or more axles at any weight | A fuel-tax license — a copy in the cab and two decals per qualified vehicle | The 48 contiguous US states and 10 Canadian provinces, through your base jurisdiction | Every quarter — April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31 |
| New York HUT | You run a New York public highway, toll-paid Thruway portions aside, over 18,000 lbs gross — or, if you elect the unloaded-weight method, a truck over 8,000 lbs or a tractor over 4,000 | A state road-use tax on your New York miles; you carry a HUT certificate and a decal | New York State | Monthly, quarterly or annual — New York assigns it |
| Connecticut HUF | You run any Connecticut road in a combination vehicle of 26,000 lbs or more (FHWA classes 8–13). A straight truck is outside it at any weight unless it is pulling a trailer | A per-mile highway use fee on your Connecticut miles; the HUF permit comes through myconneCT | Connecticut | Every quarter |
| New Mexico WDT | You run New Mexico highways at a declared gross weight over 26,000 lbs | A weight-distance tax on your New Mexico miles; the state issues an annual electronic WDT permit per vehicle | New Mexico | Every quarter |
| Oregon Weight-Mile | You run Oregon roads at a declared combined weight over 26,000 lbs | A per-mile tax charged instead of fuel tax at the pump; you run it through an ODOT account and carry a weight receipt | Oregon | Monthly; quarterly once you qualify |
| Kentucky KYU | You run any Kentucky public highway at 60,000 lbs or more combined licensed weight — transit counts, with no pickup or delivery | A weight-distance tax on your Kentucky miles; you carry a KYU license and number | Kentucky | Every quarter |
Work it out in four questions
1. What is the truck? Answer before you think about the trip
Four facts about the vehicle decide what can reach you at all, and none of them is about where you go. What does it weigh? How many axles? Is it a straight truck or a tractor pulling a trailer? Is it hauling property, or passengers for hire? Over 26,000 lbs — truck alone or truck plus trailer — or three or more axles at any weight puts you in scope for IRP and IFTA. At 55,000 lbs and up, Form 2290 applies and no route changes that. And Connecticut answers the third question rather than the first: a straight truck is outside its fee at any weight.
2. Do you cross a state line at all?
IRP and IFTA exist for interstate operation. If every mile you run stays inside your base jurisdiction, neither applies — you register with your own state and settle fuel tax with it. That does not clear the five state taxes, though: every one of them reaches intrastate miles too. An Oregon carrier that never leaves Oregon still owes the weight-mile tax — and in Oregon it is charged instead of the tax at the pump, not on top of it.
3. Which of the five states do your routes touch?
These five follow the miles, not the plate. A Florida-plated truck over 18,000 lbs owes New York's tax for every New York mile it runs off the toll-paid Thruway, whether it delivers there or only passes through; Kentucky is the same, and transit with no pickup or delivery still counts. So the question is never where the truck lives. It is which of New York, Connecticut, New Mexico, Oregon and Kentucky your routes enter, and what the truck weighs when it enters them. Touch none of the five and none of the five is yours.
4. File 2290 first, then put every deadline in one place
One of these gates another: before registering a vehicle with a taxable gross weight of 55,000 lbs or more, a state must see proof that the heavy vehicle use tax was paid — the stamped Schedule 1 that Form 2290 produces. One exception matters in practice, and it is narrow — it is about what you show at the registration counter, nothing more: for a vehicle bought within the previous 60 days, the state may accept the bill of sale or other evidence of the transfer in place of the stamped Schedule 1. It does not remove the duty to file Form 2290, which is still due by the last day of the month following the month of first use, and it does not cancel any tax owed. Two reliefs are built into the form itself: a vehicle expected to run 5,000 miles or less in the period — 7,500 for agricultural vehicles — is filed as suspended, so the return is due but the tax is not, and logging vehicles pay a reduced rate. It is the usual hold-up on a first registration. After that the calendars diverge — Form 2290 and IRP once a year, IFTA and three of the state taxes quarterly, Oregon monthly until you qualify for quarterly, and New York on a schedule it assigns you from last year's tax. A lapse in any one of them can hold your registration or stop you at a scale, and the one that trips a carrier is rarely the hardest. It is the one they forgot they had signed up for.
Common mix-ups
I already have IRP plates. Do I still need IFTA?
Yes — almost certainly. IRP registers the vehicle; IFTA licenses you for fuel tax. They cover different things, and the thresholds are close enough that a carrier who qualifies for one usually qualifies for the other. They can be set up together in one coordinated filing, which is how most interstate carriers do it.
Does New York HUT replace IFTA for my New York miles?
No. They are charged by different authorities for different reasons and are filed separately. IFTA is fuel tax reconciled across every jurisdiction you ran in; HUT is New York State charging separately for the use of its own highways. Running in New York means you report those miles on your IFTA return and file a HUT return.
My truck is plated in Florida and I deliver to New York a few times a year. Do I owe HUT?
If the vehicle is over 18,000 lbs gross and it runs on New York highways, yes — and it can catch you below that too: file by the unloaded-weight method instead and the line is a truck over 8,000 lbs or a tractor over 4,000 lbs unloaded. You pick the method on your first return of the calendar year, keep it for the rest of the year, and apply it to every vehicle you run — it is a fleet-wide choice, not one you make truck by truck. HUT follows the miles run in the state, not the state that issued your plate. This is the single most common surprise for carriers based outside New York.
Do my New York Thruway miles count toward HUT?
Not the toll-paid ones. The tax is computed on the miles you run on New York public highways excluding the toll-paid portions of the Thruway — you already paid at the barrier. But it is only those portions: the moment you exit for a pickup, a delivery or fuel, those miles are back in.
Is Form 2290 just the federal part of my registration fees?
No. Form 2290 is a tax paid to the IRS, not a registration fee, and it is owed on the weight of the vehicle rather than on where you run it. The connection is one-directional: you need the stamped Schedule 1 that 2290 produces before you can register your plates.
My truck is over 26,000 lbs but I never leave my state. What do I actually owe?
Not IRP and not IFTA — both are for interstate operation. You register with your own state and settle fuel tax with it. Form 2290 still applies if the vehicle is rated 55,000 lbs or more, because that is federal and does not care about state lines. And if your base jurisdiction is one of the five with a road-use tax, staying inside it changes nothing — none of them is limited to interstate carriers. New York's HUT applies above 18,000 lbs gross on its own highways (or above the unloaded-weight thresholds if you file that way), New Mexico's above 26,000 lbs declared gross and Oregon's above 26,000 declared combined, Kentucky's at 60,000 lbs combined licensed weight, and Connecticut's from 26,000 lbs on combination vehicles only. Oregon's is the one that changes how you pay for fuel: the weight-mile tax is charged instead of the tax at the pump, and you report the miles to ODOT.
I ran no miles in that state last quarter. Do I still file?
Yes, once the account exists. New Mexico, Kentucky, Oregon and Connecticut all say it in as many words: the return is due for every period you hold the credential, whether or not a wheel turned in the state. A zero return is still a return, and skipping it is how an otherwise clean carrier picks up a penalty and a hold on a credential it was not even using. The way to stop owing it is to close the account, not to skip a return — and never opening it is the right answer when your routes genuinely do not go there.
Sources
- IRP, Inc. — The Plan — the apportioned registration side: which vehicles are apportionable, and the cab card
- IFTA, Inc. — the fuel-tax side: the qualifying vehicle definition and the quarterly return
- NY Department of Taxation and Finance — HUT Certificate of Registration — the New York thresholds, including the unloaded-weight method that catches trucks under 18,000 lbs
- IRS — Instructions for Form 2290 — the 55,000 lb threshold, and the suspended-vehicle rule that files without paying
- NY State Tax Department — Filing requirements for highway use tax — which schedule New York puts you on, and the prior-year figures that decide it
Updated
This guide is general information about US federal and state transportation regulation — it is not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not make you our client. Rules change, and how one applies depends on your own operation: check anything you intend to rely on against the primary source above, or call us and we will check it with you.