Commercial Motor Vehicle Tax (CMVT)

The Commercial Motor Vehicle Tax (CMVT) is an annual tax that owners and long-term lessees pay on commercial vehicles that operate in the City.

You need to pay the CMVT if:

• Your non-passenger commercial vehicle is used mostly in the City (that is, 50 percent or more of its mileage during the year is within the City).
• Your non-passenger commercial vehicle is mainly used for a business in the City.
• Your vehicle is used in the City to transport passengers.

Non-passenger commercial vehicles

Non-passenger commercial vehicles include:

• Trucks
• Tractor-trailers and semi-trailers
• Auto trucks
• Light delivery cars
• Traction engines
• Road rollers
• Tractor cranes
• Truck cranes
• Power shovels
• Road-building machines
• Snowplows
• Road sweepers
• Sand spreaders
• Well drillers and servicing rigs
• Any earth-moving equipment
• Pick-up and panel trucks
• Forklifts (if used on public streets)
• Camper trucks and station wagons (if they need commercial registrations)

Vehicles used to transport passengers

Vehicles used to transport passengers include:

• Any vehicle licensed as a taxicab or a livery that carries passengers for a fee
• Any bus with more than seven seats (except those working under a franchise or contract with the Port of New York Authority and paying a percentage of earnings to the Authority or the City)

Vehicle owners

The owner of the vehicle pays the CMVT. The term "owner" includes:

• A buyer under a conditional sale agreement, reserve agreement or vendor's lien agreement
• A lessee, licensee or bailee who uses the vehicle for 30 or more days

Note: If a vehicle is leased for fewer than 30 days, the owner must pay the tax.

Who is exempt from CMVT?

Some vehicles do not have to pay CMVT. These include:

• Vehicles used only to transport people for funerals

• Vehicles used to transport children to/from school or day camps run by non-profit groups

• Vehicles owned, operated or leased for the exclusive use of:

  • A non-profit group for religious, charitable or educational purposes or to prevent cruelty to children or animals
  • Dealers in new or used vehicles where the vehicle is only used to show it to buyers or deliver it
  • A foreign nation or representative of a foreign nation exempt from paying a vehicle registration fee under New York State law
  • New York State or any public benefit corporation, improvement district or other political subdivision of the State
  • The United Nations or other international group of which the US is a member, like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Organization of American States (OAS)
  • The United States