U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Office of Highway Policy Information (OHPI) – Heavy Vehicle Use Tax
Heavy Vehicle Use Tax
Funding Our Nation's Highway Programs and Leveling the Playing Field
HVUT Compliance Review Checklist
Protocol Checklist
The protocol checklist is composed of four major activities:
- preparation for the compliance review
- preliminary meeting
- review with the State
- report of compliance review.
The sections following the checklist in the compliance review protocol describe
each activity in more detail.
Preparation for the compliance review
- Review the continuous improvement process at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hpms/cpi.htm to
ensure that this approach is used during the compliance review.
- Review 23 U.S.C. 141(c) – Federal-Aid Highways, General Provisions:
Enforcement of Requirements) and associated Federal regulations in
26 CFR 41.6001-2 – Proof of Payment for State Registration Purposes,
and 23 CFR 669 – Enforcement of Heavy Vehicle Use Tax.
- Assess what has changed either from a regulatory or legal standpoint since
conducting the last HVUT compliance review.
- Review sample questions to ensure they reflect current code and regulations.
- Review certifications from State since last review that recorded compliance
with 23 U.S.C. 141(c) – Federal-Aid Highways, General Provisions: Enforcement
of Requirements.
- Review prior compliance reviews for the State and any supporting documentation.
- Review recommendations from the last HVUT compliance review completed for
the State.
- Review any documentation and any supporting material documenting the State's
procedures for registering trucks and certifying the process.
- Review the basis for registration of trucks and other vehicles subject
to the HVUT, e.g., gross vehicle weight, declared weight, and operating weight.
- Identify questions or comments resulting from reviews of material previously
submitted.
- Obtain and review the IRS Form 2290 and instructions.
- Obtain scanned originals of the IRS stamps for your State and those used
by the IRS's Cincinnati Processing Center.
- Review the protocol sections on types of HVUT evasion and associated signs
of evasion.
- Identify staff who will assist in the compliance review.
- Develop a list of review meeting participants.
- Contact the agency responsible for registering vehicles to set dates for
the preliminary review meeting and subsequent records review.
- Send a letter announcing the upcoming compliance review to each participating
agency.
- Contact FHWA headquarters to determine whether there are any issues or
concerns with the HVUT process in your State.
- Familiarize yourself with the qualifications and background of the staff
you will be working with at the State level during the compliance review
process.
- Review other States' triennial compliance reviews.
- Read documentation on selecting a compliance sample.
- Develop sampling procedures for verifying proof of payment.
- Division Office: Conduct a risk assessment on the State's program for complying
with proof of payment since the last certification:
- legislative changes
- personnel (staff, delegate) changes
- technology
- whether the State delegates responsibility to different levels for
collecting proof of payment of the HVUT and vehicle registrations, e.g.,
county level, municipalities, private agencies.
- Identify principal contacts and their responsibilities (Department of Transportation
[DOT], Department of Motor Vehicles [DMV], etc.).
- Set up an initial meeting with representatives from the FHWA division and
Washington Office.
Preliminary meeting
- Discuss roles and responsibilities of the principal contacts (DOT, DMV,
other) for the compliance review.
- Review and discuss prior compliance review results and recommendations.
- Discuss results of the risk assessment on the State's program for complying
with proof-of-payment requirements.
- Discuss any changes in HVUT regulations or codes implemented since the
last compliance review.
- Provide an overview of the data request and information requirements for
the compliance review.
- Discuss the timeline for conducting the compliance reviews.
- Contact the State about the compliance review and set up schedule to complete
it.
- Send the protocol questionnaire to the State for initial review and completion.
Review with the State
- Prior to meeting with the State, review their answers to the protocol questions.
- Determine which answers need further review.
- Meet with the State and review the answers to the protocol questions.
- Visit the registration office to review and further discuss actual practices
used to obtain proof of payment, including what they do to detect evasion.
- Draw a sample from the State and, where appropriate, county or other local
registration records, ideally using the sampling guidelines described in
Appendix A to ensure proof of payment.
- Follow the review questions to ensure proof of payment requirements are
met:
- proof of payment required
- proof of exemption required
- proof of payment not fraudulent
- Prepare meeting minutes and share with the State.
Report of compliance review
- Provide vehicle identification numbers (VINs) to the IRS for cross-check,
if the prior meeting indicated willingness to cross-check.
- Determine recommendations based on results of the compliance review and
cross-check.
- Document all findings and recommendations.
- Draft a report of the compliance review results.
- Provide a draft report to the State and offer to participate in a follow-up
meeting with State agency personnel to discuss findings and address any questions
or concerns raised during the compliance review process.
- Review the report with division and Washington office representatives.
- File the completed report on the State's compliance.
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Page last modified on June 23, 2020