Someone once stated that the two things constant in everyday life are death and taxes. When it comes to the latter, you will notice two things disturbingly constant to it: long lines and so many items to write. For truckers, one common headache is the filing of IRS Form 2290 when you pay the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax (HVUT).

The necessity of declaring

Although it must be no surprise that you have to file your Heavy Vehicle Use Tax (as with every other tax), many of you could be at the level of exasperation due to the problems of filing IRS Form 2290 that you wonder if you should pay it at all.

Your discouragement is reasonable, but you must remember that the HVUT exists for a reason: vehicles weighing a minimum of 55,000 tons who travel a minimum of 5,000 miles of America’s highways every year can significantly damage those roads. The HVUT helps the government’s Highway Trust Fund (HTF) keep these roads looked after and deals with any damage done to them. Because of the volume of cargo moved by trucks increasing significantly each year, the wear and tear on American public highways is predicted to go up.

What could be more serious, though, is that budget cuts and funding shortfalls can result in less money for the HTF to maintain and correct defects on these highways. HTF money is currently facing deficits because of a drop in tax receipts from gas purchases.

Additionally, there are harsh fines to non-filing of IRS Form 2290. Estimates for five months of non-payment could make your $550 go up to $700. Since vehicle registration needs the appropriately stamped Schedule 1, if you cannot pay the HVUT, you might not be allowed to register your trucks. HVUT evasion can lead to prison sentences, home confinement and thousands in fines.

The wonders of e-filing

You have no plans to turn into a tax evader and in addition you do recognize why you need to go through all of this bother to pay the HVUT. Sometimes, though, the difficulty with filing IRS Form 2290 can go from troublesome to completely absurd, especially as the deadline approaches. That is why the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) unveiled e-filing.

To e-file your IRS Form 2290, you need to go to a accredited e-form provider. Type in your tax ID number, the IRS-assigned company name for you, your VIN# and also your favored means of payment. A good e-filing provider ought to have easy-to-fill forms and support staff who are ready and able to help answer any question you could have.

Mistakes are lessened in e-filing because a computer does the actual filling of the form on your behalf, in accordance with the spaces you keyed data in online. Tax rates can also be automatically calculated and the IRS may even tell you if you’ve already paid for that vehicle. There is anywhere-access to your own Schedule 1. When you will be needing it to register a vehicle, what you need to do is print it out.

E-filing your IRS Form 2290 is protected. The very best security features keep your details are safe, and the IRS lists its duly licensed partners to ensure you know if you happen to be working with authorized e-filing companies. Polices require companies with a minimum of 25 vehicles to go through e-filing, but with lots of security and conveniences, you might like to try it out although you only have one truck to your name.