Filing income tax returns in every state you pass through?

It goes beyond income taxes. Each state you do business in and/or even pass through can assess taxes or fees. New Jersey is one of the most aggressive and often target smaller carriers from out of state. There have been NJ revenue agents go right up to trucks parked at locations in the state and impound their truck and cargo if they had not registered with the state and paid previous estimated taxes owed. The ATA has been addressing this matter in recent years to narrow it down to only applying to interstate carriers based in that particular state. For now, you may want to be aware of how certain states handle this and even avoid those who aggressively try to collect the taxes and fees.

Here are a few articles that discuss the multi state tax concerns for interstate carriers.

http://larsonallen.com/Tax/Multistate_Tax_Concerns.aspx

http://waysandmeans.house.gov/uploadedfiles/american_trucking_associations.pdf

 

I'm confused, double yellow. You said that employees and o/o are exempt, but then that you would have to pay if you hired someone. The quote says independent contractors are treated as employees in this case, so then doesn't that mean you'd be OK?

 

There are states (NJ, AR, KS come to mind) that require "ad valorum" taxes for corporations. This has changed recently............so advice from a CPA well-versed in trucking is needed. However; I have never heard of a corp paying income taxes in multiple states; UNLESS they had nexus: a physical location there that generated revenue.

I'm not big enough to worry about it and a sole proprietor to boot!

 

Most of the states that enforce this do so by charging a"foreign corp"fee. Doesn't mean you have to be a corp,any business structure can qualify. Takes longer to sign your name and date it than it does to fill out the tax forms.

Some states charge an "emergency use fee" if you PU or Del(not both) in the state. I had a fight with NE,told them to block my phones from 911 calls. Still have to pay them about 200.00 a year.

If you PU/Del in-state(even one time during the year)you have created a nexus.

 

So, if someone travels through a state and doesn't pick up anything or deliver. There is a tax on those miles?