Connecticut Highway Use Fee: Filing Walkthrough

Connecticut's Highway Use Fee has charged heavy trucks by weight and miles since January 1, 2023. It is a separate account and return from IFTA, run by the Department of Revenue Services in myconneCT, and it reaches out-of-state carriers the same way it reaches Connecticut ones. The sourced rules and the full rate table render on the Connecticut Highway Use Fee page. This walkthrough puts them in filing order.

Step 1: check both eligibility tests

A truck owes the fee only when it passes two tests. Its gross weight, counting the cargo, must be 26,000 pounds or more. It must also fall in Federal Highway Administration vehicle Classes 8 through 13, the combinations where a tractor or straight truck pulls one or more trailers. A straight truck running without a trailer sits in a lower class and owes nothing, however heavy it is. Trucks hauling milk to or from a licensed dairy farm are excluded by statute.

Step 2: register once in myconneCT

The application is electronic only and free. DRS issues one Highway Use Fee Permit to the carrier rather than one per truck, and you keep a copy of it in every eligible truck you run in Connecticut. The permit does not expire, so there is no renewal to calendar. If you already file Connecticut IFTA or the motor carrier road tax, you add a Highway Use Fee account inside the same myconneCT login; the Connecticut IFTA walkthrough covers that side of the account.

Step 3: find each truck's bracket

The rate is per mile and rises with gross weight in 2,000-pound brackets. The lightest bracket, 26,000 to 28,000 pounds, pays $0.0250Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 12-493a, Highway use tax. Permit applications. Returns. Protests, hearings and appeals (Chapter 222a, Highway Use Tax) (Connecticut General Assembly (cga.ct.gov))Verified Sep 28, 2026 per mile. A truck at 78,001 to 80,000 pounds pays $0.1000Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 12-493a, Highway use tax. Permit applications. Returns. Protests, hearings and appeals (Chapter 222a, Highway Use Tax) (Connecticut General Assembly (cga.ct.gov))Verified Sep 28, 2026 per mile, and anything at 80,001 pounds and over pays $0.1750Conn. Gen. Stat. Sec. 12-493a, Highway use tax. Permit applications. Returns. Protests, hearings and appeals (Chapter 222a, Highway Use Tax) (Connecticut General Assembly (cga.ct.gov))Verified Sep 28, 2026 per mile. Moving into that top bracket is the largest jump anywhere in the schedule. Those figures render from our rate store, which carries the statute's schedule. The weight distance tax calculator runs any bracket against your miles.

Step 4: file the quarter, even at zero

Returns are quarterly and due the last day of the month after each quarter closes. The return carries Schedule 1, one line per truck with its Connecticut miles and weight, and a fleet can import Schedule 1 from a CSV file in the layout DRS publishes. Pay in myconneCT when you file or schedule the payment for a later date. The Connecticut miles on this return come from the same ELD or GPS records as your IFTA return, so reconcile the two before you submit.

File every quarter, including one with no Connecticut miles. A late or incomplete return draws a penalty of 10 percent of the unpaid fee or $50, whichever is greater, plus interest of 1 percent a month. No tax credit reduces the fee.

Step 5: keep the records and plan for occasional trips

Keep the records behind each return, along with a quarterly list of every eligible truck you ran on Connecticut highways, for at least four years. There is no temporary Highway Use Fee permit, so a carrier that crosses Connecticut only now and then still registers and files; an IRP trip permit covers plates, not this fee, as the Connecticut trip and fuel permits page explains. Compare Connecticut with the other mileage-tax states on the weight distance tax states overview.

FAQ

Which trucks owe the Connecticut Highway Use Fee?

Trucks with a gross weight of 26,000 pounds or more, cargo included, in federal vehicle Classes 8 through 13, which are the tractors and straight trucks pulling one or more trailers. Milk haulers serving licensed dairy farms are excluded.

Is a Highway Use Fee return due for a quarter with no Connecticut miles?

Yes. DRS requires every registered carrier to file for every quarter, whether or not its trucks ran in Connecticut. A carrier whose returns show no Connecticut use for two quarters in a row can be called to a hearing on cancelling its permit.

Can I buy a temporary Highway Use Fee permit for one trip?

No. DRS issues no temporary permit for occasional trips. An eligible truck that enters Connecticut needs the carrier's standing permit, and the carrier files the quarterly returns that come with it.