The Heavy Highway Use Tax: Electronically Filing IRS Form 2290 |
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James Druman
December 28, 2009
James Druman
http://www.superiorcontentcreation.com
Have you gotten around to paying the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax yet this year? We all know how much of a pain it can be to meet the bureaucratic demands of doing business in today's world. You've got trucks to run. You've got offices to manage. You've got employees to monitor.
Who has the time to go by the office of the Internal Revenue Service and file paperwork for IRS Form 2290?
Well, you better find the time, because if there is one branch of government that doesn't take "I'll do it later" as an answer, it is the IRS. But thanks to the e-filing option for IRS Form 2290, which was introduced in 2008, it is a lot easier to fulfill your obligation, keep the powers that be happy, and do your part to keep the nation's roads in order.
For those new to the game or just thinking about getting into trucking, the HVUT, or Heavy Vehicle Use Truck Tax, is a fee paid by commercial operators who run vehicles weighting 55,000 pounds or more with a typical maximum load on America's roads.
It's a way of making sure those who are responsible for a lot of the wear and tear do their part to put some of their profits back into not only keeping up on the roads but making them better, which in the long run is simply better for business and society.
The money goes towards a lot of different uses. It's used to purchase property from private parties when new roads are built and to pay for the right-of-way over private properties so businessmen and citizens can go about living their lives or doing business.
It also goes towards keeping the roads more safe, by helping to fund driver's education, emergency response crews, law enforcement, and road maintenance.
Roads need to be resurfaced constantly to keep them in drivable condition. New roads have to built. Bridges engineered. And the tax contributes to it all.
That's all great and all--most truck drivers with a basic understanding of what it takes to make a society function understand why it is necessary. After all, it is our nation's truck driver's with the most intimate understanding of all that keeps a road functioning.
Average citizens might have a romantic notion of the road that takes all the money and effort for granted, but truck drivers don't have that luxury. Their lifeblood, often literally, depends on knowing the road's every nuance.
But that doesn't mean it isn't a hassle to take time away from business and the normal goings-on of American life to go pay the tax. It involves heading over to the local office run by the IRS and waiting with everyone else to file.
You can do it by mail, but that means you have to wait a long time for your stamped Schedule 1, which leaves you in an uncertain condition if anyone asks for it the next couple weeks.
Not anymore. As mentioned before, you can now just log into the Internet at your home or office computer and use the e-filing option to turn in your IRS Form 2290. The government has taken the time and energy to train and approve private companies, who now run websites where you can go do your filing.
You pay them a small amount of money, and they get it all taken care of for you. The end result is only described as sheer convenience.
Now, drivers can contribute to the nation's roads, which is just good for business, and it doesn't have to take a lot of time out of their day. The trucking community has responded well to the new option for IRS form 2290, and the Internal Revenue Service is looking to offer the e-filing of more official forms for the trucking industry as well as other industries in the future.
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Do you want to know more about the option of filing your Form 2290 online? Go to http://www.YourTruckTax.com and learn more about electronically filing for the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax.