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 Rev. Rul. 77-36

1977-1 C.B. 347

Section 4482 -- Motor Vehicle Tax Definitions

IRS Headnote

Highway use tax; truck equipped with automobile carrier body and fifth wheel attachment. A vehicle having a three-axled truck chassis with a conventional truck cab, equipped with an automobile carrier body designed to carry two automobiles over and one behind the cab and a fifth wheel attachment, and with an actual unloaded weight of between 22,000 and 23,000 pounds falls within the truck-trailer combination category for highway use tax purposes; Rev. Rul. 76-559 distinguished.

Full Text

Rev. Rul. 77-36

Advice has been requested whether the vehicle described below falls within the tractor-trailer or the truck-trailer combination category for purposes of the tax imposed on the use of highway motor vehicles by section 4481(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

The vehicle has a three-axled truck chassis with a conventional truck cab and is equipped with an automobile carrier body designed to carry three automobiles, two over the cab and one behind the cab. The vehicle is also equipped with a fifth wheel mounted on a stinger that extends downward from the rear of the chassis behind the rear axles. Vehicles of this type, so equipped, customarily tow two-axled semitrailers designed to carry four or five automobiles. The actual unloaded weight of the towing vehicle is between 22,000 and 23,000 pounds.

Section 4481(a) of the Code imposes a tax for each taxable period on the use of any highway motor vehicle that (together with the semitrailers and trailers used in connection with highway motor vehicles of the same type as such highway motor vehicle) has a taxable gross weight of more than 26,000 pounds.

Section 41.4482(b)-1(d) of the Highway Motor Vehicle Use Tax Regulations sets forth a schedule of taxable gross weights for different categories of vehicles. The taxable gross weights are based on the number of axles and the actual unloaded weight of the power unit fully equipped for service, pursuant to paragraph (a) of that section. Among the categories shown in the schedule are "tractor-trailer combinations" and "truck-trailer combinations."

Rev. Rul. 71-304, 1971-2 C.B. 377, states that, for purposes of the tax imposed by section 4481 of the Code, a vehicle falling within the tractor-trailer combination category of the use tax schedule is any motor vehicle designed primarily for towing semitrailers or trailers. A vehicle falling within the truck-trailer combination category is any motor vehicle primarily designed for the transportation of property, and also equipped for use in towing semitrailers or trailers. That Revenue Ruling holds that a certain vehicle constructed by shortening a standard truck chassis and equipping it with a trailer hitch for towing mobile homes, and which has no provision for transporting personnel or property other than the operator and assistant, is primarily designed for towing trailers and falls within the tractor-trailer combination category.

Rev. Rul. 74-461, 1974-2 C.B. 377, holds that a two-axled truck equipped with a flat bed body is designed primarily for the transportation of property, even though it is equipped with a special hitch mechanism for towing mobile homes and, therefore, is a truck-trailer combination for purposes of the use tax schedule.

Pursuant to Rev. Rul. 71-304, the classification of a vehicle for purposes of the combinations categories of the use tax schedule depends on its primary design for towing semitrailers or trailers, or for transporting property. Thus, it is not necessary that a vehicle be designed to perform only one of those functions to the exclusion of the other in order to be "primarily" designed for towing semitrailers or trailers, or for transporting property.

Although the vehicle in the instant case is equipped with a fifth wheel attachment, the vehicle retains its primary character as a truck. Because of its truck characteristics, the vehicle is primarily designed for the transportation of property. Therefore, since the vehicle is customarily used with semitrailers of the type intended by the term combinations, the vehicle falls within the truck-trailer combination category of the use tax schedule.

Rev. Rul. 76-559, 1976-2 C.B. 365, relates to the classification for highway use tax of a two-axled standard-type truck-tractor equipped with a fifth wheel mounted over the rear axle for use in towing semitrailers that carry four automobiles. The vehicle is equipped with a headramp structure designed to carry one automobile over the cab of the vehicle and one automobile behind the cab. That Revenue Ruling concludes that the vehicle is primarily designed for towing semitrailers and, therefore, the vehicle is within the tractor-trailer combination category of the use tax schedule. The towing vehicle in the instant case is distinguishable from the vehicle in that Revenue Ruling since the vehicle described therein is essentially a truck-tractor whereas the vehicle in the instant case has a conventional truck-type chassis and retains its truck characteristics.

Rev. Rul. 76-559 is distinguished.