ARLINGTON, VA — Two years ago the U.S. federal government’s revenue service, the Internal Revenue Service or IRS gave truckers a break over the filing of the heavy vehicle use tax (HVUT), but now that’s coming back to haunt some people, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) folks said in their state laws newsletter.

In the fall of 2011, HVUT was extended from the regular due date of the tax, August 31, until the end of November because U.S. Congress was late extending the tax itself. And since carriers need to show proof of payment of HVUT before renewing their registration of vehicles, the IRS waived requirements for renewals between July and November 2011, which allowed carriers to renew by showing their 2010 filing instead, truckinginfo reports.

What happened in some cases, is that carriers did not end up paying to 2011 HVUT and now the IRS is calling to collect the outstanding amounts.