# Treas. Reg. § 41.4482(a)-1: Definition of highway motor vehicle.

Source: eCFR as of 2026-10-19 <https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/section-41.4482(a)-1>. Interprets 26 U.S.C. § 4482.

(a) Highway motor vehicle. The term “highway motor vehicle” means any vehicle that is both: 

(1) A vehicle propelled by means of its own motor, whether such motor is powered by gasoline, diesel fuel, special motor fuels, electricity, or otherwise, and 

(2) A “highway vehicle” as defined in § 48.4061(a)-1(d) of this chapter. 

(b) Treatment of certain excluded vehicles. Although trailers and semitrailers used in combination with highway trucks or truck-tractors are not vehicles the use of which is subject to the tax imposed by section 4481(a), trailers and semitrailers customarily used in combination with highway trucks or truck-tractors are taken into account in determining the taxable gross weight of the highway motor vehicle under § 41.4482(b)-1, which is the base of the tax. 

[T.D. 7461, 42 FR 2671, Jan. 13, 1977, as amended by T.D. 8879, 65 FR 17153, Mar. 31, 2000]