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New York Highway Use Tax (HUT): Registration, Decals, Rates, and Filing

Reviewed by Austin Park, founder of ICR Filings · Updated October 23, 2026

The short answer
  • New York HUT applies to trucks over 18,000 lbs gross weight for miles on New York public highways, not counting the toll-paid Thruway.
  • Each truck needs a $1.50 certificate of registration and decal before it runs. Occasional visitors can buy a $25 trip certificate instead (up to 10 a year).
  • At 80,000 lbs the rate is $0.0546 per loaded mile under the gross weight method.
  • Returns are quarterly at first (April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31), and required even with no New York miles.

New York charges a highway use tax (HUT) on heavy trucks for every mile they run on New York public highways, except the toll-paid parts of the New York State Thruway. It is separate from IFTA and from your federal filings, and it applies to out-of-state carriers as well as New York ones. The NYS Department of Taxation and Finance runs it.

Which trucks it covers

HUT applies to any truck, tractor, or other self-propelled vehicle with a gross weight over 18,000 lbs, alone or in combination. Gross weight here means the truck's empty weight, plus the empty weight of the heaviest trailer it will pull, plus the maximum load. The driver and a helper are not counted.

Carriers who choose the unloaded weight method (explained below) instead register every truck over 8,000 lbs unloaded and every tractor over 4,000 lbs unloaded. Some vehicles are excluded, such as buses and highway construction and maintenance vehicles, and some are exempt, such as emergency, farm, and recreational vehicles.

Step 1: certificate of registration and decal

Before a covered truck runs on New York public highways, it needs a HUT certificate of registration and a decal.

  • Fee: $1.50 per vehicle, which covers both the certificate and the decal.
  • How to apply: open an account with Form TMT-39 and request credentials online through New York's One Stop Credentialing and Registration system (OSCAR), or file Form TMT-1 by mail. Permit service companies approved by the Tax Department can also get them for you, for a service fee.
  • Need to run right away? With an existing HUT account on OSCAR, or through an approved permit service, you can print a temporary credential (Form TR-8) and carry it until the decal arrives.
  • Decal placement: on the body or bumper, as near as possible to the front plate. A decal belongs to one truck and cannot be moved to another.
  • Keep the certificate at your regular place of business.

If a truck's plate or weight goes up, send the new information and New York issues a revised certificate at no charge. A weight decrease can be reported for free only in January. Surrender the decal within five days of selling the truck, ending a lease, taking it off the road, or having the certificate revoked.

Only an occasional New York trip? Use a trip certificate

  • A HUT trip certificate costs $25 through OSCAR or an approved permit service.
  • It is good until midnight of the third day after it is issued, and weekends and holidays do not extend it.
  • While it is valid, you do not file a HUT return or pay HUT on those miles.
  • You can get no more than 10 a calendar year, unused ones are not refunded, and trucks hauling automotive fuel cannot use them.
  • Carry a copy in the truck and keep copies for at least four years. A truck may also need a separate fuel use tax trip permit.

How the tax is figured

HUT is New York taxable miles times a rate set by weight. On your first return each calendar year you pick one method, and you must use it for every vehicle and every return that year:

  • Gross weight method: laden miles are taxed by gross weight, and unladen miles by unloaded weight. You can figure it truck by truck (straight line option) or, with more than one truck, using your heaviest vehicles (heaviest weight option).
  • Unloaded weight method: all miles are taxed by the truck's or tractor's unloaded weight, at its own set of rates.

Some laden-mile rates from the gross weight table in the MT-903 instructions:

Gross weightRate per laden mileTax on 1,000 laden miles
18,001 to 20,000 lbs$0.0084$8.40
26,001 to 28,000 lbs$0.0133$13.30
50,001 to 52,000 lbs$0.0252$25.20
70,001 to 72,000 lbs$0.0420$42.00
78,001 to 80,000 lbs$0.0546$54.60

Over 80,000 lbs, add $0.0028 per mile for each ton or part of a ton. Unladen miles use lower rates based on unloaded weight. Trucks used almost only for logs, pulpwood, wood chips, boltwood, or bulk raw milk get reduced rates if you run three or fewer of them.

New York HUT estimator (laden miles, gross weight method)

$54.60 for these loaded miles ($0.0546 per mile).

Estimate from Table 1 of the MT-903 instructions. Empty miles are taxed separately at lower rates by unloaded weight, and the unloaded weight method uses different tables.

Filing the return

Once you hold a certificate of registration (not a trip certificate), you file a HUT return for every period, even when no tax is due. File online with HUT Web File through a New York Business Online Services account, which calculates the tax and lets you schedule the payment up to the due date, or on paper with Form MT-903.

QuarterDue date
January to MarchApril 30
April to JuneJuly 31
July to SeptemberOctober 31
October to DecemberJanuary 31 of the next year

New carriers file quarterly. After a full year, New York reviews your total HUT for the year and may change your schedule: more than $12,000 means monthly returns, and $1,200 or less (if you were subject to HUT all year) means one annual return. Late returns or payments add penalty and interest.

Leased trucks

A carrier that leases a truck for more than 30 consecutive days generally needs its own certificate and decal, unless the truck will run in New York 10 days or less. Both the owner and the carrier can be held liable for the tax, and both must file if they hold a certificate, even when the other one pays.

Records to keep

Keep daily records of New York miles for every truck and tractor with a certificate, including trip records that separate taxable from non-taxable miles, plus a monthly summary for each vehicle. Keep them at least four years from the return's due date or the date you filed, whichever is later. New York requires the records to be kept in New York State unless the Tax Department agrees otherwise.

What happens if you fall behind

New York can deny, suspend, or revoke your certificate of registration for unfiled returns or unpaid tax, and serious violations can bring criminal penalties. New York DMV also will not renew the registration of a truck that was subject to HUT, or transfer it to a new owner, without a Certificate of Tax Clearance. When you buy a used truck that was registered for HUT, get Form MT-370.1 from the seller first: if they owe HUT, you will not be able to register it.

Questions on registration go to the Tax Department's Miscellaneous Tax Information Center at (518) 457-5735.

New York is one of four states with a weight-distance tax. See Oregon weight-mile tax, Kentucky KYU, and New Mexico weight distance tax. Fuel tax is separate and goes on your IFTA return.

Common questions

Is New York HUT the same as IFTA?

No. HUT is a separate New York tax on miles driven by heavy trucks. New York fuel use tax for IFTA licensees goes on your IFTA return with your base state.

Do Thruway miles count?

Miles on the toll-paid portions of the New York State Thruway are not taxed under HUT. Every other public highway mile in New York counts.

How much is a HUT decal?

$1.50 per vehicle, which covers the certificate of registration and the decal. Duplicates and replacements are also $1.50.

When should I use a trip certificate instead of registering?

When you only enter New York occasionally. A trip certificate costs $25, is good until midnight of the third day after it is issued, and covers the tax for those miles, so no return is needed. You can get up to 10 per calendar year, and they are not available for trucks hauling automotive fuel.

Do I have to file if I had no New York miles?

Yes, if you hold a HUT certificate of registration. New York requires a return for every period, even when no tax is due.

I am buying a used truck from New York. What should I check?

Ask the seller for Form MT-370.1, Certificate of Tax Clearance, before you buy. New York DMV will not register or transfer a truck that was subject to HUT if the seller owes HUT.

Official sources

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules and fees change, so confirm with the official source before you file.

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