The Tax Man

[kab449]

I traded my fifth wheel for a MH but still have my F250 TD and various work trailers. I want to give a heads up to any PA members on this forum and to anyone traveling through PA. In our governments quest to increase their coffers they have embarked on enforcement of the GCWR registration of truck trailer combinations. If the trailer you tow is more than 10000 lbs you have to register your truck for the total GCWR of your combo or the mfg stated GCWR for your truck. My truck has a 23500 manufacturer stated GCWR so this is what I have to register my truck for to be legal when towing. It currently costs $405 per year. My registration also gives a GVWR for the truck only of 10000 lbs for LEO when not towing. Fines are really high and all the new troopers coming out of the academy are well versed on this.
It was also stated that DOT will be checking those large fifth wheels that travel through the state, requiring stops at the weigh stations.
Anything to fill the state coffers. Welcome to the land of taxes.

[bfast54]

RoyB wrote:
I guess going BIG BOY TRUCKS and TRAILERS sure has it downsides...

Kinda makes me like my smaller footprint setup more and more... I have all the modern things the big boys have just less move around room inside. Gets great gas mileage too... Certainly don't have to worry about the LEO's



Roy Ken

Don't be Too sure............I see that looks kinda like a "off road" camper........

What you wanna bet.........The Rear Bumper on the Trailer is TOO HIGH... for Federal laws, so vehicles don't " Submarine" under your trailer????

Don't be too smug....You could be next.....:S

[tatest]

It gets tricky when you start mixing vehicle registration with revenue sources.

This state does not even require us to register or tag privately used trailers, rather it allows the county and school district to tax them as personal property. If we want to avoid the property tax, however, (or avoid the hassles associated with trying to pull through other states untagged) we have the option to tag a trailer as an unmotorized vehicle and pay the tag fee to the state rather than the property tax to the county.

Completely different rules, tags and tax liabilities for commercial or agricultural uses. I do know that our taxes on commercial trailers are low enough that some Kansas operators establish a presence here so as to tag here.

[Oaklevel]

I don't see how they can enforce PA titling / registration laws on other state registrations. My VA Registration has no GCWR numbers (1Ton Duelly)... In VA the truck is registered for the truck & the trailer for the trailer for trucks over 10,000 lbs

[DavisK]

kab449 wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
Since some states don't require a GCWR license what are they going to do with those trucks/trailers

Check them at the weigh stations!

I don't stop at weigh stations. I don't have to in my home state of VA, and I won't stop at any in other states I pass through either.

[Dave_H_M]

kab449 wrote:
My buddy was stopped by state police towing his fifth wheel. They told him it pertains to towing all trailers over 10000 lbs. They don't have to be strictly commercial.

Well, what is the rest of the story?

[pugslyyy]

colliehauler wrote:
I disagre with the logic because you buy a tag for the trailer and a tag for the truck, sounds like double dipping on the states part. A lot of states are this way including KS.

Kansas trailer tags are weighted? Interesting, did not know that. In NC trailer tags are cheap, it is the tractor that gets weighted. Makes sense if you have one tow vehicle with multiple trailers, you only pay for the weight you are hauling down the road at the time.

So for instance, in my case the truck is weighted. I can tow my RV, my boat or a car hauler, etc and only pay for weight once. You have to pay weight for every trailer.

[badboy368]

tsetsaf wrote:
A couple years ago PA was pulling over race car haulers and toy haulers with sponsor logos on the side. Claimed they were "doing business" and therefore a commercial entity.

That is a true story... that never has a happy ending :M :M

[RoyB]

I guess going BIG BOY TRUCKS and TRAILERS sure has it downsides...

Kinda makes me like my smaller footprint setup more and more... I have all the modern things the big boys have just less move around room inside. Gets great gas mileage too... Certainly don't have to worry about the LEO's



Roy Ken

[tsetsaf]

A couple years ago PA was pulling over race car haulers and toy haulers with sponsor logos on the side. Claimed they were "doing business" and therefore a commercial entity.

[colliehauler]

pugslyyy wrote:

hmknightnc wrote:
We'll, this should be fun. Unless they just recently changed federal law they can't do that for out of state private vehicles. Unless the rig looks to be over 26k# combined or they have commercial plates, then that is a different story

I would be very surprised if that were the case. I took it to be a change in PA licensing laws. North Carolina (my home state) has had weighted tags for years.

The thought process is - higher weight vehicle wear the roads more so we are going to charge them more.

It's logic that is hard to disagree with.

Dedicated RVs (not truck + trailer) are very often exempt from weighting. There's a reason why the HDT crowd work so hard to get their tow rigs reclassed at motorhomes. 🙂

I disagre with the logic because you buy a tag for the trailer and a tag for the truck, sounds like double dipping on the states part. A lot of states are this way including KS.

[kab449]

rhagfo wrote:
I would think that if they pulled over and find someone from out of state, that is legal in the state of registration, they could easily have a lawsuit on their hands.

In the original post I did state for PA members. PA always had the GCWR registration for commercial trucks but generally left RV trailers alone. In their quest to increase revenue they leave no stone unturned.

[pugslyyy]

hmknightnc wrote:
We'll, this should be fun. Unless they just recently changed federal law they can't do that for out of state private vehicles. Unless the rig looks to be over 26k# combined or they have commercial plates, then that is a different story

I would be very surprised if that were the case. I took it to be a change in PA licensing laws. North Carolina (my home state) has had weighted tags for years.

The thought process is - higher weight vehicle wear the roads more so we are going to charge them more.

It's logic that is hard to disagree with.

Dedicated RVs (not truck + trailer) are very often exempt from weighting. There's a reason why the HDT crowd work so hard to get their tow rigs reclassed at motorhomes. 🙂

[hmknightnc]

kab449 wrote:
My buddy was stopped by state police towing his fifth wheel. They told him it pertains to towing all trailers over 10000 lbs. They don't have to be strictly commercial.

We'll, this should be fun. Unless they just recently changed federal law they can't do that for out of state private vehicles. Unless the rig looks to be over 26k# combined or they have commercial plates, then that is a different story

[rhagfo]

I would think that if they pulled over and find someone from out of state, that is legal in the state of registration, they could easily have a lawsuit on their hands.

[hmknightnc]

That might be new in Pa but having to register your tow vehicle at the maximum expected combination weight is nothing new. Been that way for at least the last 15 years in the 3 states I have registered vehicles. My dually is registered at 26k# in NC (just under the 26,001 which requires a different license).