Kentucky 2024 Regular Session

Kentucky House Bill HB389 Latest Draft

Bill / Introduced Version

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AN ACT relating to motor vehicle usage tax and declaring an emergency. 1 
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2 
Section 1.   KRS 138.470 is amended to read as follows: 3 
There is expressly exempted from the tax imposed by KRS 138.460: 4 
(1) (a) Motor vehicles titled or registered to the United States, or to the 5 
Commonwealth of Kentucky or any of its political subdivisions; and 6 
(b) The gross rental or lease charges for the rental or lease of a motor vehicle paid 7 
by the United States, or the Commonwealth of Kentucky or any of its political 8 
subdivisions; 9 
(2) Motor vehicles titled or registered to institutions of purely public charity and 10 
institutions of education not used or employed for gain by any person or 11 
corporation; 12 
(3) Motor vehicles which have been previously titled in Kentucky on or after July 1, 13 
2005, or previously registered and titled in any state or by the federal government 14 
when being sold or transferred to licensed motor vehicle dealers for resale. The 15 
motor vehicles shall not be leased, rented, or loaned to any person and shall be held 16 
for resale only; 17 
(4) (a) Motor vehicles sold by or transferred from dealers registered and licensed in 18 
compliance with the provisions of KRS 186.070 and KRS 190.010 to 190.080 19 
to: 20 
1. Members of the Armed Forces on duty in this Commonwealth under 21 
orders from the United States government; or 22 
2. Members of the Kentucky National Guard or reserve component; or 23 
(b) Motor vehicles brought into the Commonwealth that were sold by or 24 
transferred from a licensed motor vehicle dealer in another state to a 25 
member of the Armed Forces on duty in this Commonwealth under orders 26 
from the United States government while that person was assigned to 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	24 RS BR 947 
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temporary duty in that other state; 1 
(5) Commercial motor vehicles, excluding passenger vehicles having a seating capacity 2 
for nine (9) persons or less, owned by nonresident owners and used primarily in 3 
interstate commerce and based in a state other than Kentucky which are required to 4 
be registered in Kentucky by reason of operational requirements or fleet proration 5 
agreements and are registered pursuant to KRS 186.145; 6 
(6) Motor vehicles titled in Kentucky on or after July 1, 2005, or previously registered 7 
in Kentucky, transferred between husband and wife, parent and child, stepparent 8 
and stepchild, or grandparent and grandchild; 9 
(7) Motor vehicles transferred when a business changes its name and no other 10 
transaction has taken place or an individual changes his or her name; 11 
(8) Motor vehicles transferred to a corporation from a proprietorship or limited liability 12 
company, to a limited liability company from a corporation or proprietorship, or 13 
from a corporation or limited liability company to a proprietorship, within six (6) 14 
months from the time that the business is incorporated, organized, or dissolved, if 15 
the transferor and the transferee are the same business entity except for a change in 16 
legal form; 17 
(9) Motor vehicles transferred by will, court order, or under the statutes covering 18 
descent and distribution of property, if the vehicles were titled in Kentucky on or 19 
after July 1, 2005, or previously registered in Kentucky; 20 
(10) Motor vehicles transferred between a subsidiary corporation and its parent 21 
corporation if there is no consideration, or nominal consideration, or in sole 22 
consideration of the cancellation or surrender of stock; 23 
(11) Motor vehicles transferred between a limited liability company and any of its 24 
members, if there is no consideration, or nominal consideration, or in sole 25 
consideration of the cancellation or surrender of stock; 26 
(12) The interest of a partner in a motor vehicle when other interests are transferred to 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	24 RS BR 947 
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him or her; 1 
(13) Motor vehicles repossessed by a secured party who has a security interest in effect 2 
at the time of repossession and a repossession affidavit as required by KRS 3 
186.045(6). The repossessor shall hold the vehicle for resale only and not for 4 
personal use, unless he or she has previously paid the motor vehicle usage tax on 5 
the vehicle; 6 
(14) Motor vehicles transferred to an insurance company to settle a claim. These 7 
vehicles shall be junked or held for resale only; 8 
(15) Motor carriers operating under a charter bus certificate issued by the Transportation 9 
Cabinet under KRS Chapter 281; 10 
(16) (a) 1. Motor vehicles registered under KRS 186.050 that have a declared gross 11 
vehicle weight with any towed unit of forty-four thousand and one 12 
(44,001) pounds or greater; and 13 
2. Farm trucks registered under KRS 186.050(4) that have a declared gross 14 
vehicle weight with any towed unit of forty-four thousand and one 15 
(44,001) pounds or greater. 16 
(b) To be eligible for the exemption established in paragraph (a) of this 17 
subsection, motor vehicles shall be registered at the appropriate range for the 18 
declared gross weight of the vehicle established in KRS 186.050(3)(b) and 19 
shall be prohibited from registering at a higher weight range. If a motor 20 
vehicle is initially registered in one (1) declared gross weight range and 21 
subsequently is registered at a declared gross weight range lower than forty-22 
four thousand and one (44,001) pounds, the person registering the vehicle 23 
shall be required to pay the county clerk the usage tax due on the vehicle 24 
unless the person can provide written proof to the clerk that the tax has been 25 
previously paid; 26 
(17) Motor vehicles transferred to a trustee to be held in trust, or from a trustee to a 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	24 RS BR 947 
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beneficiary of the trust, if a direct transfer from the grantor of the trust to all 1 
individual beneficiaries of the trust would have qualified for an exemption from the 2 
tax pursuant to subsection (6) or (9) of this section; 3 
(18) Motor vehicles transferred to a trustee to be held in trust, if the grantor of the trust is 4 
a natural person and is treated as the owner of any portion of the trust for federal 5 
income tax purposes under the provisions of 26 U.S.C. secs. 671 to 679; 6 
(19) Motor vehicles transferred from a trustee of a trust to another person if: 7 
(a) The grantor of the trust is a natural person and is treated as the owner of any 8 
portion of the trust for federal income tax purposes under the provisions of 26 9 
U.S.C. secs. 671 to 679; and 10 
(b) A direct transfer from the grantor of the trust to the person would have 11 
qualified for an exemption from the tax pursuant to subsection (6) or (9) of 12 
this section; and 13 
(20) Motor vehicles under a manufacturer's statement of origin in possession of a 14 
licensed new motor vehicle dealer that are titled and transferred to a licensed used 15 
motor vehicle dealer and held for sale. 16 
Section 2.   Section 1 of this Act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 17 
Section 3.   Because it is appropriate that bills affecting taxation take effect at the 18 
beginning of a fiscal year, an emergency is declared to exist, and this Act takes effect 19 
upon its passage and approval by the Governor or upon its otherwise becoming a law. 20