New bill could eliminate federal excise tax

A bill introduced in the US House of Representatives would remove the federal excise tax on heavy trucks as well as trailers. More recently, the Clean and Safe Trucks Act was introduced. This bipartisan law will eliminate 12% FET.

A similar Senate bill (S. 2435) was introduced last year by Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Maryland).

FET is the highest percentage excise tax that Congress levies on a product, often adding up to $22,000 to the price of a new truck.

“As a small business owner, I’ve seen firsthand just how challenging it can be to operate a business, especially when costs rise,” said Rep. Chris Pappas from New Hampshire.

“This is a time when we must do all we can to lower costs for small businesses and consumers, and cutting the federal excise tax on heavy trucks and trailers will help America’s Main Street economy grow, address supply chain challenges and shortages, and lower costs for essential items that families need like groceries and gas.”

“We need new and more environmentally friendly trucks deployed on our roadways,” said Scott McCandless, ATD chairman and president of McCandless Truck Center. “Half of the Class 8 trucks on the road are over 10 years old and lack the cleaner technologies and fuel efficiency gains of today’s new trucks. The FET is a barrier to our national goal to put more cleaner-emission trucks in service. For electric trucks, the FET is a counterproductive dead weight.”

“Between Sacramento and Washington, truckers have dozens of regulations on emissions and safety to follow. However, at the same time, our tax code disincentives them from purchasing the most up-to-date trucks… we should drop the burdensome tax preventing our truck drivers from having the most modern, highest technology and safest equipment on the road.” – said one of the representatives.

The abolition of this obsolete tax motivates the trucking industry to replenish fleets with electric trucks.