On June 27, 2022, Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), a small business owner and co-chair of the bipartisan House Small Business Caucus, was joined by small business leaders at McDevitt Truck, Inc in Manchester to discuss his newly-introduced bipartisan legislation to eliminate the 12% Federal Excise Tax (FET) on heavy-duty trucks and trailers.
Repealing the 12% FET on heavy trucks and trailers will help small businesses, lower costs for consumers, encourage EV adoption, and strengthen America’s supply chains and shipping infrastructure The FET is the highest percentage excise tax in America and was established more than 100 years ago to pay for World War I.
“This bipartisan, common-sense legislation will help lower costs for consumers, address supply chain challenges, strengthen New Hampshire’s small businesses, and pave the way for a newer, greener, safer fleet of trucks on the road,” said Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01). “The stories I heard from these small business leaders underscore the importance of doing all we can to lower costs and support our small businesses, and repealing the 12% federal excise tax on trucks and trailers is a vital piece of that solution. As a small business owner, I know just how important lowering costs and cutting red tape is for our local businesses like the ones I met with in Manchester on Monday, and this legislation will go a long way to helping Main Street and our families here in New Hampshire.”
“I was pleased to welcome Congressman Pappas to McDevitt Trucks/Advantage Truck Group today to thank him for his leadership in working to repeal the Federal Excise Tax on trucks and trailers, and share first-hand how this repeal would benefit small businesses like mine and help lower costs for consumers across the country,” said Jim Lagana, General Manager at McDevitt Trucks, Inc “Congressman Pappas understands the challenges facing small business owners, and I appreciate his time and effort leading on this issue in Congress.”
“We greatly appreciate Rep. Pappas’s leadership in taking on the repeal of the Federal Excise Tax,” said Pete McNamara, New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association (NHADA) President. “For truck dealers in New Hampshire, the manual to go through the FET taxes is over 180 pages. Eliminating this tax would not only relieve a tremendous burden for countless small business owners, but it would also allow more money to come back to the consumer. Ultimately, this tax is passed on to consumers and makes it harder for truck dealers who want to be buying newer, greener, and cleaner vehicles. I want to thank Congressman Pappas for taking the lead on a repeal of the FET and for pushing this for quite a while, and we’re eager to help see this through.”
“I want to thank Congressman Pappas for taking the time to listen to us on this issue, as well as for taking the lead in the repeal of the Federal Excise Tax in Washington,” said Mary Beth Alosa, President/Dealer Principal at New England Kenworth. “This is vital not only to our small businesses but for the United States economy, which moves 70% of all freight by truck. We wholeheartedly support what you're doing.”
“Eliminating this tax would really be a benefit, especially to the small mom and pop truck owners in the state of New Hampshire,” said Bob Sculley, President & CEO of the New Hampshire Motor Transport Association. “We really appreciate what you're trying to do to bring costs down and help our economy here in New Hampshire.”
In 2020, Congressman Pappas led 54 lawmakers to call on Congressional leadership to support America’s trucking industry and their workers, including a suspension of the 12% federal excise tax (FET) on the purchase of new heavy-duty trucks and trailers. He reiterated that call last summer, urging Congress to repeal the tax to help small businesses recover and help America’s truck fleets replace older heavy-duty trucks with newer, safer, greener trucks.
