Annual fee on trucks, tractors, and buses operating partly within and partly outside Kentucky -- Fee to replace ad valorem tax -- Determination of value and fee -- Collection and distribution -- Protest
KRS 136.188
in effect136.188. Annual fee on trucks, tractors, and buses operating partly within and partly outside Kentucky -- Fee to replace ad valorem tax -- Determination of value and fee -- Collection and distribution -- Protest
(1) Notwithstanding KRS 132.487, any truck, tractor, or bus which is operated on a route or as part of a system that is partly within and partly outside Kentucky shall be subject to an annual fee at the time the vehicle is registered with and the registration fee is paid to the Transportation Cabinet pursuant to KRS 186.020 and 186.050(3) and (13). The fee shall be imposed on the vehicle's owner or the owner's legal designee as of January 1 of each year. Such payment shall be made to the Transportation Cabinet either directly, in the case of a vehicle based in Kentucky, or indirectly, through the International Registration Plan, in the case of a vehicle based outside of Kentucky.
(2) The fee imposed by subsection (1) of this section replaces the state and local ad valorem property tax the Department of Revenue previously imposed and centrally collected against trucks, tractors, and buses operated on a route or as part of a system that is partly within and partly outside Kentucky. The fee imposed by subsection (1) of this section shall not be construed as a fee imposed upon the registration, operation, or use of the vehicles on public highways. The Department of Revenue shall use the following method for determining the rate for fixing the assessed value of the property and for determining the annual fee amount:
(a) The Department of Revenue shall determine the assessed value on an annual basis by multiplying the purchase price of the truck, tractor, or bus by a depreciation value expressed as a percentage of the original cost from an authoritative source that the Department of Revenue prescribes by promulgation of an administrative regulation;
(b) The Department of Revenue shall determine an aggregate state and local rate on an annual basis. The state rate shall be the weighted average commercial and industrial tangible personal property tax rate, and the local rate shall be determined using the method set forth in KRS 136.180(3) and (4);
(c) The Department of Revenue shall determine the amount subject to the annual fee by multiplying the total assessed value of all vehicles by an apportionment factor. The apportionment factor shall be determined as provided in KRS 186.050(13)(a); and
(d) The annual fee shall be determined by multiplying the amount subject to the annual fee by the rate determined in paragraph (b) of this subsection. The Department of Revenue shall provide the Transportation Cabinet with the information needed to collect the fee.
(3) The Transportation Cabinet shall forward the money it collects from the fee imposed by subsection (1) of this section to the Department of Revenue on a monthly basis. The Department of Revenue shall divide and distribute the money among the state, counties, cities, urban-counties, charter counties, consolidated local governments, school districts, and special taxing districts in the same manner as the Department of Revenue divided and distributed the state and local ad valorem property tax previously imposed and centrally collected.
(4) Pick-up and delivery vehicles operating from a terminal within this state and vehicles that do not leave the state in the normal course of business shall not be required to pay the fee imposed by subsection (1) of this section, but shall instead be subject to the ad valorem tax under KRS 132.487.
(5) Any person paying the fee imposed by subsection (1) of this section shall have sixty
(60) days from the date the person is notified of the fee amount to protest. The protest shall be filed with the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Department of Revenue, in accordance with the provisions of KRS 131.110. Notification by any state's or Canadian province's or territory's registration authority of the amount due shall satisfy the notification requirement of KRS 131.110(1).
(6) No protest or appeal shall delay the collection or payment of the fee imposed by subsection (1) of this section. The fee amount due as determined in subsection (2) of this section shall be paid at the time of registration. If the fee is not paid, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Transportation Cabinet, shall not register the vehicle for which registration is sought. Persons registering vehicles in other states or Canada shall be subject to requirements of those registration authorities.
Effective: April 27, 2018
History: Amended 2018 Ky. Acts ch. 171, sec. 113, effective April 14, 2018; and ch. 207, sec. 113, effective April 27, 2018. -- Created 2006 Ky. Acts ch. 252, Pt. XV, sec. 2, effective January 1, 2007.
Legislative Research Commission Note (4/27/2018). This statute was amended by 2018 Ky. Acts chs. 171 and 207, which do not appear to be in conflict and have been codified together.
Source: Kentucky Legislative Research Commission (legislature.ky.gov)URL: https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=47420Fetched: 10/20/2026