I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1440 
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 
MARCH 8, 2023 
Mr. LAMALFA (for himself, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. LAHOOD, and Mr. BLU-
MENAUER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Modern, Clean, and 
Safe Trucks Act of 2023’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) the 12-percent Federal retail excise tax on 
certain new heavy trucks, tractors, and trailers, cou-
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pled with new regulatory mandates, significantly in-
creases the cost of new heavy-duty trucks, tractors, 
and trailers and discourages the replacement of 
older, less environmentally clean and less fuel eco-
nomical vehicles; 
(2) this 12-percent Federal retail excise tax is 
the highest percentage rate of any Federal ad valo-
rem excise tax; 
(3) the Federal excise tax was first levied by 
Congress in 1917 to help finance America’s involve-
ment in World War I; 
(4) the 12-percent Federal retail excise tax rou-
tinely adds between $12,000 and $22,000 to the cost 
of a new heavy truck, tractor, or trailer; 
(5) nearly half of the Class 8 trucks on the 
road are over 10 years old and lack a decade of envi-
ronmental and safety technological advancements; 
(6) from 2007 to 2020, new trucks have re-
duced carbon dioxide emissions by 202,000,000 tons, 
nitrogen oxide emissions by 27,000,000 tons, and 
saved 
20,000,000,000 
gallons 
of 
diesel 
and 
472,000,000 barrels of crude oil; 
(7) an owner of a single Class 8 truck powered 
by the latest clean diesel engine can expect to save 
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about 2,200 gallons of fuel each year compared to 
previous generations of technology; 
(8) since the late 1990s, cleaner fuel and ad-
vanced engines have combined to reduce nitrogen 
oxide (NOx) emissions and particulate matter (PM) 
emissions by 98 percent; 
(9) the Federal excise tax disproportionately 
impacts electric and alternative-fueled trucks, which 
currently have a higher up front cost, at a time 
when adoption of these technologies is needed to ac-
celerate the transition to zero emission vehicles and 
the reduction of carbon pollution from transpor-
tation; 
(10) 
in 
2020, 
there 
were 
approximately 
1,300,000 United States manufacturing, supplier, 
dealership, and heavy-duty trucking and trailer re-
lated jobs; 
(11) since the Federal retail excise tax on cer-
tain new heavy trucks, tractors, and trailers is based 
on annual sales, receipts from the tax deposited in 
the Highway Trust Fund can vary greatly; 
(12) Congress should consider a more reliable 
and consistent revenue mechanism to fund the High-
way Trust Fund; 
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(13) Congress should advance the deployment 
of the most modern, clean, and safe trucks through 
eliminating the Federal excise tax on trucks; and 
(14) repealing the Federal excise tax would re-
sult in the replacement of older internal combustion 
engine trucks with new heavy duty trucks that em-
ploy the latest safety and environmental tech-
nologies. 
SEC. 3. REPEAL OF EXCISE TAX ON HEAVY TRUCKS AND 
TRAILERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 31 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended by striking subchapter C 
(and by striking the item relating to such subchapter from 
the table of subchapters for such chapter). 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Section 4072(c) of such Code is amended to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(c) TIRES OF THE TYPE USED ON HIGHWAY VEHI-
CLES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this part, 
the term ‘tires of the type used on highway vehicles’ 
means tires of the type used on— 
‘‘(A) motor vehicles which are highway ve-
hicles, or 
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‘‘(B) vehicles of the type used in connec-
tion with motor vehicles which are highway ve-
hicles. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION FOR MOBILE MACHINERY.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Such term shall not 
include tires of a type used exclusively on mo-
bile machinery. 
‘‘(B) MOBILE MACHINERY.—For purposes 
of subparagraph (A), the term ‘mobile machin-
ery’ means any vehicle which consists of a chas-
sis— 
‘‘(i) to which there has been perma-
nently mounted (by welding, bolting, riv-
eting, or other means) machinery or equip-
ment to perform a construction, manufac-
turing, processing, farming, mining, drill-
ing, timbering, or similar operation if the 
operation of the machinery or equipment is 
unrelated to transportation on or off the 
public highways, 
‘‘(ii) which has been specially designed 
to serve only as a mobile carriage and 
mount (and a power source, where applica-
ble) for the particular machinery or equip-
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ment involved, whether or not such ma-
chinery or equipment is in operation, and 
‘‘(iii) which, by reason of such special 
design, could not, without substantial 
structural modification, be used as a com-
ponent of a vehicle designed to perform a 
function of transporting any load other 
than that particular machinery or equip-
ment or similar machinery or equipment 
requiring such a specially designed chas-
sis.’’. 
(2) Section 4221 of such Code is amended— 
(A) in subsection (a)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘(or under subchapter 
C of chapter 31 on the first retail sale)’’, 
and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘4051 or’’, 
(B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘and in 
the case of any article sold free of tax under 
section 4053(6),’’, and 
(C) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘, 
and, in the case of the taxes imposed by sub-
chapter C of chapter 31, includes the retailer 
with respect to the first retail sale’’. 
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(3) Section 4222(d) of such Code is amended 
by striking ‘‘4053(6),’’. 
(4) Section 4293 of such Code is amended by 
striking ‘‘section 4051,’’. 
(5) Section 4483(g) of such Code is amended 
by striking ‘‘section 4053(8)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 
4072(c)(2)’’. 
(6) Section 6416(b)(2) of such Code is amend-
ed by striking ‘‘or under section 4051’’. 
(7) Section 6416(b) of such Code is amended 
by striking paragraph (6). 
(8) Section 9503(b)(1) of such Code is amend-
ed by striking subparagraph (B) and by redesig-
nating subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E) as subpara-
graphs (B), (C), and (D), respectively. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to sales and installations on or 
after the date of the introduction of this Act. 
Æ 
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