Internal Revenue Service
Revenue Ruling

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 Rev. Rul. 60-41

1960-1 C.B. 408

IRS Headnote

A certain four-wheel platform truck designed for use at industrial plants, airports, warehouses, terminals, military installations, and other such places as a burden carrier is not a taxable motor vehicle within the meaning of section 4061(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

Full Text

Rev. Rul. 60-41

Advice has been requested whether the manufacturers excise tax on motor vehicle articles applies to sales by manufacturers of the platform truck described below.

The vehicle is designed for use at industrial plants, airports, warehouses, terminals, military installations, and other such places as a burden carrier. The vehicle is of steel construction and is equipped with four wheels. It has an overall length of 12 feet and an overall width of 58 inches. The vehicle has cargo space of eight feet in length and 58 inches in width. The height of the cargo bed from the ground varies between models from 25 inches to 28 inches. There is no door or top to the driving compartment, which has one seat. However, an enclosed all-weather steel cab is available as optional equipment. The vehicle is equipped with two headlights, two combination tail and stop lights, and brake, clutch, and accelerator foot pedals. It is powered by a four-cylinder 72-horsepower engine and has a payload capacity, which varies between models, from 2,000 pounds to 6,000 pounds.

Although the vehicle is capable of being used upon the highways, the gas tank location and seat construction do not meet Interstate Commerce Commission road requirements and cannot be modified to meet such requirements. Moreover, the speed of the vehicle is limited to 35 miles per hour because of its wheel diameter and gear ratio.

Section 4061(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 imposes a tax upon the sale by the manufacturer, producer, or importer of automobile truck chassis, automobile truck bodies, and other enumerated motor vehicle articles. A sale of an automobile truck shall, for the purposes of this paragraph, be considered to be a sale of the chassis and of the body.

Revenue Ruling 57-440, C.B. 1957-2, 721, holds, in part, that the manufacturers excise tax imposed by section 4061(a)(1) of the Code shall not apply to sales by the manufacturer, producer, or importer of any motor vehicle article, regardless of width, which is designed or adapted by the manufacturer for purposes predominantly other than the transportation of persons or property on the highway even though incidental highway use may occur.

Since the vehicle in question is designed for use predominantly in off-highway operations at industrial plants, airports, warehouses, terminals, military installations, and other such places as a burden carrier, it is held that such vehicle is not a taxable motor vehicle within the meaning of section 4061(a)(1) of the Code. Accordingly, sales by manufacturers of this vehicle are not subject to the manufacturers excise tax imposed by that section.