I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2381 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the excise tax 

on heavy trucks and trailers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 29, 2019 

Mr. LAMALFA (for himself, Mr. PETERSON, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. PENCE, 

and Mr. CUELLAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal 

the excise tax on heavy trucks and trailers, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Modern, Clean, and 

5 Safe Trucks Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds that— 

8 (1) there is a 12-percent Federal retail excise 

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1 ers, coupled with new regulatory mandates, signifi2 cantly increasing the cost of new heavy-duty trucks, 

3 tractors, and trailers, and discourages the replace4 ment of older, less environmentally clean and less 

5 fuel economical vehicles; 

6 (2) this 12-percent Federal retail excise tax is 

7 the highest percentage rate of any Federal ad valo8 rem excise tax; 

9 (3) the Federal excise tax was first levied by 

10 Congress in 1917 to help finance America’s involve11 ment in World War I; 

12 (4) the 12-percent Federal retail excise tax rou13 tinely adds between $12,000 and $22,000 to the cost 

14 of a heavy truck, tractor, or trailer; 

15 (5) the average in-use, heavy truck is 9.6 years 

16 old, close to the historical all-time high; 

17 (6) the Environmental Protection Agency’s 

18 model year 2002–2010 tailpipe emissions rules ac19 count for $20,000 of the average price of today’s 

20 new heavy-duty trucks; 

21 (7) according to the 2011 Environmental Pro22 tection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety 

23 Administration Regulatory Impact Analysis entitled 

24 ‘‘Final Rulemaking to Establish Greenhouse Gas 

25 Emissions Standards and Fuel Efficiency Standards 


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1 for Medium and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles’’, 

2 model year 2014–2018 EPA–Department of Trans3 portation fuel economy rules will add up to approxi4 mately $6,683 to the price of new heavy-duty trucks; 

5 (8) according to the 2016 Environmental Pro6 tection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety 

7 Administration Final Rule entitled ‘‘Greenhouse Gas 

8 Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Me9 dium and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles—Phase 

10 2’’, model year 2021–2027 fuel economy rules will 

11 add up to approximately $12,500 to the price of new 

12 heavy-duty trucks; 

13 (9) the $39,183 average per truck cost of these 

14 regulatory mandates results in an additional $4,700 

15 Federal excise tax, on average; 

16 (10) since the Federal retail excise tax on cer17 tain new heavy trucks, tractors, and trailers is based 

18 on annual sales, receipts from the tax deposited in 

19 the Highway Trust Fund can vary greatly; 

20 (11) Congress should consider a more reliable 

21 and consistent revenue mechanism to protect the 

22 Highway Trust Fund; and 

23 (12) Congress should advance the deployment 

24 of the most modern, clean, and safe trucks through 

25 eliminating the Federal excise on trucks. 


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1 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF EXCISE TAX ON HEAVY TRUCKS AND 

2 TRAILERS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 31 of the Internal Rev4 enue Code of 1986 is amended by striking subchapter C 

5 (and by striking the item relating to such subchapter from 

6 the table of subchapters for such chapter). 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

8 (1) Section 4072(c) of such Code is amended to 

9 read as follows: 

10 ‘‘(c) TIRES OF THE TYPE USED ON HIGHWAY VEHI11 CLES.— 

12 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this part, 

13 the term ‘tires of the type used on highway vehicles’ 

14 means tires of the type used on— 

15 ‘‘(A) motor vehicles which are highway ve16 hicles, or 

17 ‘‘(B) vehicles of the type used in connec18 tion with motor vehicles which are highway ve19 hicles. 

20 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR MOBILE MACHINERY.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Such term shall not 

22 include tires of a type used exclusively on mo23 bile machinery. 

24 ‘‘(B) MOBILE MACHINERY.—For purposes 

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1 ery’ means any vehicle which consists of a chas2 sis— 

3 ‘‘(i) to which there has been perma4 nently mounted (by welding, bolting, riv5 eting, or other means) machinery or equip6 ment to perform a construction, manufac7 turing, processing, farming, mining, drill8 ing, timbering, or similar operation if the 

9 operation of the machinery or equipment is 

10 unrelated to transportation on or off the 

11 public highways, 

12 ‘‘(ii) which has been specially designed 

13 to serve only as a mobile carriage and 

14 mount (and a power source, where applica15 ble) for the particular machinery or equip16 ment involved, whether or not such ma17 chinery or equipment is in operation, and 

18 ‘‘(iii) which, by reason of such special 

19 design, could not, without substantial 

20 structural modification, be used as a com21 ponent of a vehicle designed to perform a 

22 function of transporting any load other 

23 than that particular machinery or equip24 ment or similar machinery or equipment 


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1 requiring such a specially designed chas2 sis.’’. 

3 (2) Section 4221 of such Code is amended— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘4051 or’’ in subsection 

5 (a), and 

6 (B) by striking ‘‘and in the case of any ar7 ticle sold free of tax under section 4053(6),’’ in 

8 subsection (c). 

9 (3) Section 4222(d) of such Code is amended 

10 by striking ‘‘4053(6),’’. 

11 (4) Section 4293 of such Code is amended by 

12 striking ‘‘section 4051,’’. 

13 (5) Section 6416(b)(2) of such Code is amend14 ed by striking ‘‘or under section 4051’’. 

15 (6) Section 6416(b) of such Code is amended 

16 by striking paragraph (6). 

17 (7) Section 9503(b)(1) of such Code is amend18 ed by striking subparagraph (B) and by redesig19 nating subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E) as subpara20 graphs (B), (C), and (D), respectively. 

21 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

22 this section shall apply to sales and installations on or 

23 after the date of the introduction of this Act. 

Æ 


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