II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1839 

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

on heavy trucks and trailers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 13, 2019 

Mr. GARDNER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

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 

9 tax on certain new heavy trucks, tractors, and trail10 ers, coupled with new regulatory mandates, signifiVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1839.IS S1839

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1 cantly increasing the cost of new heavy-duty trucks, 

2 tractors, and trailers, and discouraging the replace3 ment of older, less environmentally clean and less 

4 fuel economical vehicles; 

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

6 the highest percentage rate of any Federal ad valo7 rem excise tax; 

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

9 Congress in 1917 to help finance America’s involve10 ment in World War I; 

11 (4) the 12-percent Federal retail excise tax rou12 tinely adds between $12,000 and $22,000 to the cost 

13 of a heavy truck, tractor, or trailer; 

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

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

16 (6) the Environmental Protection Agency’s 

17 model year 2002–2010 tailpipe emissions rules ac18 count for $20,000 of the average price of today’s 

19 new heavy-duty trucks; 

20 (7) according to the 2011 Environmental Pro21 tection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety 

22 Administration Regulatory Impact Analysis entitled 

23 ‘‘Final Rulemaking to Establish Greenhouse Gas 

24 Emissions Standards and Fuel Efficiency Standards 

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


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1 model year 2014–2018 EPA-Department of Trans2 portation fuel economy rules will add up to approxi3 mately $6,683 to the price of new heavy-duty trucks; 

4 (8) according to the 2016 Environmental Pro5 tection Agency and National Highway Traffic Safety 

6 Administration Final Rule entitled ‘‘Greenhouse Gas 

7 Emissions and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Me8 dium and Heavy-Duty Engines and Vehicles—Phase 

9 2’’, model year 2021–2027 fuel economy rules will 

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

11 heavy-duty trucks; 

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

13 regulatory mandates results in an additional $4,700 

14 Federal excise tax, on average; and 

15 (10) since the Federal retail excise tax on cer16 tain new heavy trucks, tractors, and trailers is based 

17 on annual sales, receipts from the tax deposited in 

18 the Highway Trust Fund can vary greatly. 

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

20 TRAILERS. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 31 of the Internal Rev22 enue Code of 1986 is amended by striking subchapter C 

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

24 the table of subchapters for such chapter). 

25 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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

2 read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(c) TIRES OF THE TYPE USED ON HIGHWAY VEHI4 CLES.— 

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

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

7 means tires of the type used on— 

8 ‘‘(A) motor vehicles which are highway ve9 hicles, or 

10 ‘‘(B) vehicles of the type used in connec11 tion with motor vehicles which are highway ve12 hicles. 

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

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

15 include tires of a type used exclusively on mo16 bile machinery. 

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

18 of subparagraph (A), the term ‘mobile machin19 ery’ means any vehicle which consists of a chas20 sis— 

21 ‘‘(i) to which there has been perma22 nently mounted (by welding, bolting, riv23 eting, or other means) machinery or equip24 ment to perform a construction, manufac25 turing, processing, farming, mining, drillVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:19 Jun 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1839.IS S1839

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1 ing, timbering, or similar operation if the 

2 operation of the machinery or equipment is 

3 unrelated to transportation on or off the 

4 public highways, 

5 ‘‘(ii) which has been specially designed 

6 to serve only as a mobile carriage and 

7 mount (and a power source, where applica8 ble) for the particular machinery or equip9 ment involved, whether or not such ma10 chinery or equipment is in operation, and 

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

12 design, could not, without substantial 

13 structural modification, be used as a com14 ponent of a vehicle designed to perform a 

15 function of transporting any load other 

16 than that particular machinery or equip17 ment or similar machinery or equipment 

18 requiring such a specially designed chas19 sis.’’. 

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

21 (A) in subsection (a)— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘(or under subchapter 

23 C of chapter 31 on the first retail sale)’’, 

24 and 

25 (ii) by striking ‘‘4051 or’’, 


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1 (B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘and in 

2 the case of any article sold free of tax under 

3 section 4053(6),’’, and 

4 (C) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘, 

5 and, in the case of the taxes imposed by sub6 chapter C of chapter 31, includes the retailer 

7 with respect to the first retail sale’’. 

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

9 by striking ‘‘4053(6),’’. 

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

11 striking ‘‘section 4051,’’. 

12 (5) Section 4483(g) of such Code is amended 

13 by striking ‘‘section 4053(8)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

14 4072(c)(2)’’. 

15 (6) Section 6416(b)(2) of such Code is amend16 ed by striking ‘‘or under section 4051’’. 

17 (7) Section 6416(b) of such Code is amended 

18 by striking paragraph (6). 

19 (8) Section 9503(b)(1) of such Code is amend20 ed by striking subparagraph (B) and by redesig21 nating subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E) as subpara22 graphs (B), (C), and (D), respectively. 


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

2 this section shall apply to sales and installations on or 

3 after the date of the introduction of this Act. 

Æ 


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