Every truck you report on Form 2290 gets a one-letter category, and that letter decides the HVUT you owe. Categories A through V are the taxable ones, sorted by taxable gross weight in 1,000-pound steps from 55,000 pounds up to anything over 75,000. Category W is the parking spot for suspended vehicles— trucks you expect to run 5,000 highway miles or less (7,500 for agricultural use) that still have to be listed on Schedule 1 at $0. Pick the wrong letter and you either overpay or hand the IRS a reason to bill you later, so it is worth seeing how the table is built.
What are the Form 2290 vehicle categories?
The categories come straight from the tax formula in 26 USC §4481(a): $100 a year for a truck with a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds, plus $22 for each additional 1,000 pounds or fraction of 1,000, capped at $550 once the truck is over 75,000 pounds. The IRS prints that math as a lettered table on page 2 of the form. Category A is exactly 55,000 pounds. Category B is 55,001 to 56,000, and each letter after that adds another 1,000 pounds and another $22 until Category U tops out at 75,000 pounds and $540. Category V catches everything over 75,000 at the $550 maximum — which is where a loaded 80,000-pound tractor-trailer lands.
The second money column is for logging vehicles, which pay 75% of the standard rate in every category. Here is the table as it appears on the July 2026 revision of Form 2290, which covers the tax period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027:
| Category | Taxable gross weight (lbs) | Annual tax (first used in July) | Logging vehicles |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 55,000 | $100.00 | $75.00 |
| B | 55,001 - 56,000 | $122.00 | $91.50 |
| C | 56,001 - 57,000 | $144.00 | $108.00 |
| D | 57,001 - 58,000 | $166.00 | $124.50 |
| E | 58,001 - 59,000 | $188.00 | $141.00 |
| F | 59,001 - 60,000 | $210.00 | $157.50 |
| G | 60,001 - 61,000 | $232.00 | $174.00 |
| H | 61,001 - 62,000 | $254.00 | $190.50 |
| I | 62,001 - 63,000 | $276.00 | $207.00 |
| J | 63,001 - 64,000 | $298.00 | $223.50 |
| K | 64,001 - 65,000 | $320.00 | $240.00 |
| L | 65,001 - 66,000 | $342.00 | $256.50 |
| M | 66,001 - 67,000 | $364.00 | $273.00 |
| N | 67,001 - 68,000 | $386.00 | $289.50 |
| O | 68,001 - 69,000 | $408.00 | $306.00 |
| P | 69,001 - 70,000 | $430.00 | $322.50 |
| Q | 70,001 - 71,000 | $452.00 | $339.00 |
| R | 71,001 - 72,000 | $474.00 | $355.50 |
| S | 72,001 - 73,000 | $496.00 | $372.00 |
| T | 73,001 - 74,000 | $518.00 | $388.50 |
| U | 74,001 - 75,000 | $540.00 | $405.00 |
| V | over 75,000 | $550.00 | $412.50 |
| W | Tax-suspended vehicles (5,000 miles or less; 7,500 agricultural) | $0.00 (still listed on Schedule 1) | $0.00 |
Two things the table does not show. First, the annual amounts apply to a truck first used in July; a truck first used later owes a prorated share, covered below. Second, the “over 75,000” row has no ceiling — a 100,000-pound permitted combination and a 76,000-pound tractor both sit in Category V at $550, because Congress capped the tax rather than the weight.
How do you find your taxable gross weight?
The letter depends on taxable gross weight, and that number is not the GVWR on the door sticker or the empty weight on a scale ticket. Under the Form 2290 instructions, taxable gross weight is the sum of three things: the actual unloaded weight of the truck fully equipped for service, the actual unloaded weight of any trailers or semitrailers customarily used in combination with it, and the weight of the maximum load customarily carried on the truck and those trailers. For a bus, it is the unloaded weight plus 150 pounds for every seat, driver included.
The instructions then add a floor tied to your registration. If a state registers the truck by a declared gross weight, your taxable gross weight can be no less than the highest gross weight declared for it in any state. If the state registers by weight category, your taxable gross weight has to fall within the highest category you are registered for. In practice, a tractor plated at 80,000 pounds in its IRP base state is Category V no matter what it usually hauls, because 80,000 is the declared weight. The safe way to pick a letter is to start from the registered weight, then confirm the three-part calculation does not push you higher.
Which trucks qualify for the logging rate?
The reduced logging column is narrower than it looks. A logging vehicle must be used exclusively to transport products harvested from a forested site — logs, chips, or timber moved from the woods to a mill or between forest sites — and it must be registered under state law as a highway motor vehicle used exclusively for that purpose. A truck that hauls logs on Monday and gravel on Tuesday does not qualify, and neither does a log truck carrying an ordinary commercial plate. Meet both tests and the savings are real: $412.50 instead of $550 in Category V, $75 instead of $100 in Category A. The IRS also publishes a separate partial-period table (Table II) for logging vehicles first used after July. Our logging operators page covers the registration proof we ask for before claiming the rate.
What is Category W?
Category W is the tax-suspended category. A truck goes in W when you expect it to travel 5,000 miles or less on public highways during the July–June period — 7,500 miles or less for an agricultural vehicle registered for farm use. The truck still appears on Schedule 1, you still sign the suspension statement in Part II of the return, and you still get a stamped Schedule 1 showing the VIN, but the tax is $0. Category W trucks are also left out of the 25-vehicle e-file mandate, since no tax is being paid on them. If a W truck crosses the mileage limit later in the period, you file an amended return and pay the full annual rate for its real weight category, not a prorated amount — the suspended vehicles guide walks through the mileage tracking and the amendment.
How is the tax prorated for a truck first used after July?
The annual amounts in the table assume the truck was on the road in July, the first month of the tax period. Under §4481(c)(1) the tax on a truck first used later is “reckoned proportionately” from the first day of the month of first use through June 30. In plain terms: take the annual rate for the category, multiply by the number of months from first use through June (counting the first-use month), and divide by 12. The IRS does the arithmetic for you in Table I (regular vehicles) and Table II (logging vehicles) at the end of the instructions, and every e-file system does it automatically once you enter the first-use month. Our 2290 tax calculator runs the same Table I and Table II lookup for any category, logging status, and month.
- Category V (over 75,000 lbs) first used in October: nine months, 9/12 × $550 = $412.50.
- Category A (55,000 lbs) first used in January: six months, 6/12 × $100 = $50.00.
- Logging vehicle in Category V first used in March: four months, 4/12 × $412.50 = $137.50.
The proration follows the first-use month, not the purchase date, and a truck bought used from a private seller uses the month afterthe sale — see Form 2290 when you buy a used truck. Adding a truck after you have already filed for the season means a new return for that truck rather than an edit to the old one; the mid-year vehicle guide covers the mechanics.
What happens if the truck changes categories during the year?
Categories move in one direction without paperwork and in the other only with an amendment. If a truck's taxable gross weight increases into a higher letter mid-period — you start pulling a heavier trailer, or you re-plate at a higher declared weight — you owe the difference between the two categories for the months remaining, reported on an amended Form 2290 due the last day of the month after the change. If the weight decreases, the IRS does not refund the difference and no amendment is filed; you simply report the lower category on next July's return. The amendments guide shows the difference-of-prorations math with a worked example.
Which category do you enter on Schedule 1?
Schedule 1, Part II asks for each VIN “by category,” so the letter you use on page 2 of the return has to match the letter next to that VIN on the schedule. Three checks before you transmit: the weight you used is the registered or declared weight (or higher, if the three-part calculation says so); logging is claimed only for trucks that meet both logging tests; and any Category W truck really is expected to stay under the mileage limit. When Fast 2290 prepares a return, the preparer confirms the category against the registration before transmitting — it is part of the $149 per-vehicle fee, and a wrong letter is one of the more common things we correct on returns carriers bring us from elsewhere. If you would rather hand the table to someone else, you can file your 2290 with Fast 2290 Filing.