Form 2290 in Montana: Schedule 1 & Heavy Truck Registration
What Montana requires when you register a vehicle at 55,000 pounds or more — who checks your Schedule 1, where, and what else the state wants alongside it.
Registering agency
Montana Motor Vehicle Division (county treasurers) and MDT Motor Carrier Services
You register at
County offices
Federal threshold
55,000 pounds
Where Montana wants your Schedule 1
Montana law requires vehicles to be registered in the county where the owner is domiciled, and the state notes that before a vehicle is registered the owner must provide proof the IRS Form 2290 has been filed — at the county when licensing, or through Motor Carrier Services when registering under IRP. MDT also requests Form 2290 when issuing a GVW fee permit at 55,000 pounds or greater.
Whichever counter you end up at, the document is the same: the Schedule 1 the IRS returns after processing your Form 2290, either manually stamped or carrying the e-file watermark. E-filing returns it within minutes, which matters when registration or a plate renewal is waiting on it.
Farm carriers pay 35%, and trailers register once for life
Montana runs two GVW fee schedules — the full schedule and a 35% schedule for agricultural carriers — and lets you buy GVW fees by the month, by several months, or for a full year, at the county, in Helena, at a weigh station, or from a patrol officer. Trailers and semitrailers carry a one-time registration fee rather than an annual one, while heavy trucks stay on an annual cycle.
Apportioned (IRP) registration in Montana
If you run in two or more jurisdictions, you register through the International Registration Plan rather than as a purely intrastate vehicle. In Montana that is handled by MDT Motor Carrier Services, Helena ((406) 444-2998). Proof of HVUT payment is part of the IRP application and renewal — an apportioned account cannot add a taxable vehicle whose Form 2290 is unpaid.
The federal side, unchanged by state
| Tax period | July 1 – June 30 |
| Deadline | August 31 for vehicles in service in July; otherwise the last day of the month after first use |
| E-file required | When reporting 25 or more taxed vehicles |
| Suspended vehicles | 5,000 miles or less (7,500 agricultural) — no tax, but you still file and still get a Schedule 1 |
Montana Form 2290 questions
Where do I show my stamped Schedule 1 in Montana?⌄
Do intrastate-only trucks in Montana need Form 2290?⌄
Who handles apportioned (IRP) plates in Montana?⌄
Official Montana sources
- Montana Motor Vehicle Division (county treasurers) and MDT Motor Carrier Services — commercial vehicle registration
- Montana guidance referencing Form 2290 / Schedule 1
- IRS Trucking Tax Center
State registration rules and fees change — confirm current requirements with Montana Motor Vehicle Division (county treasurers) and MDT Motor Carrier Services before filing or registering. This page covers the federal Form 2290 as it applies to Montana registration and is not tax or legal advice.
File once, register anywhere
E-file Form 2290 with Send 2290 and get the IRS-watermarked Schedule 1 Montana accepts — usually within minutes of IRS acceptance.