All Roll Calls
Yes: 210 • No: 1
UtahH.B. 572026 General SessionHouseWALLET
Motor Vehicle Division Amendments
Sponsored By: Kay J. Christofferson (Republican)
Signed by Governor
Motor Fuel and Special Fuel TaxesState Tax CommissionRevenue and TaxationLicense PlatesMotor VehiclesTransportationVehicle RegistrationMotor Vehicle Size LimitsTransportation FundDivision of Motor VehiclesTransportation FundingTransportation Related Fees
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
21 provisions identified: 8 benefits, 0 costs, 13 mixed.
Property tax relief for qualifying homes
The law expands residential property tax treatment to homes under construction or unoccupied homes. The county assessor must determine that the property will be used as a primary residence. It also covers owner-owned furnishings, furniture, and equipment used only within a tenant’s primary home. That rental personal property is exempt after the residential exemption is applied.
Transportation money shifts toward transit projects
The law directs an annual $45 million deposit to the Active Transportation Investment Fund. It reduces the annual deposit to the Transportation Investment Fund of 2005 by the same amount. A second shift sends money from that transportation fund to the Transit Transportation Investment Fund. That transfer equals 35% of current-year revenue from the motor and special fuel tax portion above 29.4 cents per gallon. These provisions redirect revenue rather than change the fuel tax rate.
Drivers gain registration and plate options
Beginning May 6, 2026, one or more personal vehicles can count as a fleet under the specified fleet-registration rule. Utah’s transportation department must also adapt road usage charge procedures for 24-month registrations. Registrants can request two plates, but issuance remains the motor vehicle division’s choice. The two-plate option excludes apportioned vehicles, street-legal all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, and trailers.
Light trailer titles follow shipping weight
Beginning May 6, 2026, trailers with shipping weight of 750 pounds or less are outside the amended motor vehicle definition. Those trailers do not need Utah titles when they are not designed, used, and maintained to carry people or property for hire. The small-trailer definition covers shipping weights above 750 pounds but below 2,000 pounds.
Odometer exemptions ease vehicle transfer paperwork
Beginning May 6, 2026, mileage disclosure is not required for vehicles with a manufacturer weight rating over 16,000 pounds. The exemption also covers Utah-registered vehicles with a weight rating of 18,000 pounds or more. Beginning July 1, 2026, vehicles operated as street-legal all-terrain vehicles do not need odometer statements. Those vehicles also do not need working odometers when the manufacturer did not install one.
Registration alone no longer requires insurance
Beginning May 6, 2026, registration alone no longer requires Utah resident owners to maintain vehicle insurance or other required security. Owners must maintain that coverage while the vehicle operates on a Utah highway, quasi-public road, or quasi-public parking area.
Salespeople can work for multiple auctions
Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah-licensed salespeople can work for more than one wholesale vehicle auction dealer at the same time. This applies to salespeople employed by dealers operating as wholesale motor vehicle auctions.
Rental fleets gain flexible registration terms
Beginning May 6, 2026, qualifying new commercial rental vehicles can receive conditional registration for their alternative registration term. Registration ends on the last day of that term’s final month, rather than being limited to 12 months. Passenger rental car businesses must still pay applicable taxes and fees and obtain an identification-number inspection.
Motorcycle fees support rider education
Beginning July 1, 2026, rider education receives $5 from each annual motorcycle registration and $4 from each six-month registration. These amounts become dedicated credits in the Transportation Fund. The motorcycle program can use that registration revenue and $2.50 from each original, renewal, or extension motorcycle endorsement fee. These provisions allocate fee revenue; they do not raise the fees riders pay.
Collector vehicle and plate classifications change
Beginning May 6, 2026, special interest status alone no longer blocks a vehicle from qualifying as a custom vehicle. Custom vehicles must still meet age or replica and collector-use requirements; daily-use and vintage vehicles remain excluded. Existing special interest vehicle plates no longer count as state agency support plates. Qualifying cancer support plates created before December 31, 2022, remain included in that plate class.
County emissions fees gain finer steps
Beginning July 1, 2026, qualifying counties can set vehicle emissions fees in 25-cent steps instead of whole dollars. The caps remain $3 per standard registration and $2.25 per six-month registration. A county must need an emissions program for air-quality compliance and adopt a fee ordinance. Electric vehicles and street-legal all-terrain vehicles are exempt from this county fee.
Nonresident vehicle exemptions use weight ratings
Beginning May 6, 2026, nonresidents owe no Utah temporary permit or registration fee at combined weight ratings of 26,000 pounds or less. A separate registration exemption covers individual vehicles, not combinations, rated at 26,000 pounds or less. Those vehicles must be registered elsewhere, owned and operated by nonresidents, and used to carry people for hire or property. Trailer exemptions use shipping weight for a 750-pound non-for-hire limit. Single-axle exemptions exclude commercial and for-hire trailers, plus travel, camping, or fifth-wheel trailers rated at 750 pounds or more.
Off-road vehicle classes use shipping weight
Beginning May 6, 2026, specified all-terrain vehicle and golf cart classes use shipping weight instead of unladen weight. Type I all-terrain vehicles must weigh 1,500 pounds or less, be no wider than 52 inches, and meet the remaining definition. Internal-combustion type II vehicles have a 3,500-pound shipping-weight limit. Golf carts must weigh less than 1,800 pounds, be designed for golfers, and operate at low speeds. They must also have at least three wheels touching the ground and carry no more than six people, including the driver.
Vehicle weight ratings reshape registration rules
Beginning May 6, 2026, weight ratings replace loaded-weight measures in several registration, fee, traffic, and weight-display rules. The rating includes the vehicle, passengers, cargo, fuel, and trailer tongue weight; the division can set missing manufacturer ratings. Vehicle fee classes generally use combined weight ratings, trailer fees use shipping weight, and partial-year fees use vehicle weight ratings. Registered combinations must display their registered combined rating on the power unit. The law also removes the specific ban on displaying a gross laden weight different from the registration certificate.
New rules for vehicle consignment sales
Beginning May 6, 2026, licensed vehicle auctions generally no longer count as consignees—businesses selling vehicles for owners. This exclusion does not apply when an individual consigns a vehicle mainly for personal, family, or household purposes. Agreed charges to recover a consigned vehicle can appear on a department-designed form or in a written consignment agreement. The law does not set those charges.
Vehicle buyback coverage follows weight ratings
Beginning May 6, 2026, Utah’s vehicle buyback rules use weight ratings instead of loaded weight for the heavy-vehicle exclusion. Vehicles rated over 14,000 pounds are excluded. Motor homes remain excepted from that exclusion.
Vehicle equipment checks use revised measurements
Beginning May 6, 2026, frame height is measured from level ground to the frame’s lowest point with the vehicle unloaded. When axle widths differ, wheel track uses the axle with the widest distance between tire-tread centers. Highway trailers and semitrailers need rear wheel protection when shipping weight is 750 pounds or more. Design-based protection exceptions and the other listed exemptions remain.
Vehicle tax exemptions follow weight ratings
Beginning May 6, 2026, vehicle tax rules use a 27,000-pound weight-rating cutoff instead of loaded weight. Registered vehicles brought into Utah after the assessment date qualify for the proportional-assessment exemption at or below that cutoff. The exemption applies for the year the license fee or tax is paid. Vehicles at or below the same cutoff are excluded from the corresponding proportional-tax rebate.
Dealers use ratings for vehicle exceptions
Beginning May 6, 2026, new or new-and-used dealers qualify as special equipment dealers by equipping new incomplete vehicles rated at least 12,000 pounds. After installation, those dealers can use the sales exception for new special equipment vehicles meeting that weight rating. Transporter-plate exclusions and dealer-plate restrictions also use vehicle weight ratings rather than loaded weight. Dealer plates cannot cover loaded commercial vehicles rated over 26,000 pounds without a special loaded demonstration permit.
Vehicle auctions face licenses and safeguards
Beginning May 6, 2026, motor vehicle auctions need state licenses, which also authorize used-vehicle sales, body shops, and dismantling. Licensed auctions can obtain transporter licenses by showing the required insurance or other security. Title-delivery rules extend to motor vehicle auctions, including those buying or selling in their own names. For sales to licensed dealers or dismantlers, the consignor or its auction agent must endorse the title. Endorsing as the consignor’s agent alone does not make the auction the vehicle’s owner, seller, or title assignor.
Interstate fleets use rating-based fee classes
Beginning May 6, 2026, apportioned fleets compare vehicle weight-rating classes when replacing a withdrawn vehicle. That comparison determines whether extra registration fees apply. The proportional equalized highway use tax uses combined weight-rating classes and their matching tax amounts. That tax rule applies when a carrier has not presented a property-tax or in-lieu-fee certificate.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
Kay J. Christofferson
Republican • House
Cosponsors
Wayne A. Harper
Republican • Senate
Roll Call Votes
House vote • 3/5/2026
House/ concurs with Senate amendment
Yes: 69 • No: 0
Senate vote • 3/4/2026
Senate/ passed 3rd reading
Yes: 23 • No: 0
Senate vote • 3/4/2026
Senate/ uncircled
Yes: 0 • No: 0
Senate vote • 3/4/2026
Senate/ substituted
Yes: 0 • No: 0
Senate vote • 3/3/2026
Senate/ circled
Yes: 0 • No: 0
Senate vote • 2/18/2026
Senate/ passed 2nd reading
Yes: 22 • No: 0
Senate vote • 2/9/2026
Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation
Yes: 5 • No: 0
House vote • 2/3/2026
House/ floor amendment
Yes: 0 • No: 0
House vote • 2/3/2026
House/ passed 3rd reading
Yes: 69 • No: 1
House vote • 1/23/2026
House Comm - Substitute Recommendation
Yes: 11 • No: 0
House vote • 1/23/2026
House Comm - Favorable Recommendation
Yes: 11 • No: 0
Actions Timeline
Governor Signed
3/23/2026House/ to Governor
3/16/2026HouseHouse/ received enrolled bill from Printing
3/16/2026HouseHouse/ enrolled bill to Printing
3/12/2026HouseEnrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate
3/12/2026Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared
3/6/2026Bill Received from House for Enrolling
3/6/2026House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling
3/5/2026HouseHouse/ received from Senate
3/5/2026HouseSenate/ to House
3/5/2026SenateSenate/ signed by President/ returned to House
3/5/2026SenateSenate/ received from House
3/5/2026SenateHouse/ to Senate
3/5/2026HouseHouse/ concurs with Senate amendment
3/5/2026HouseHouse/ placed on Concurrence Calendar
3/4/2026HouseHouse/ received from Senate
3/4/2026HouseSenate/ to House with amendments
3/4/2026SenateSenate/ passed 3rd reading
3/4/2026SenateSenate/ substituted
3/4/2026SenateSenate/ uncircled
3/4/2026SenateSenate/ circled
3/3/2026SenateSenate/ placed on 3rd Reading Calendar table
2/18/2026SenateSenate/ 3rd reading
2/18/2026SenateSenate/ passed 2nd reading
2/18/2026SenateSenate/ 2nd reading
2/18/2026Senate
Bill Text
Enrolled
3/12/2026
Substitute #2
2/25/2026
Amended 2/4/2026 09:02:389
2/4/2026
Substitute #1
1/23/2026
Introduced
12/22/2025