Rev. Rul. 58-284

Advice has been requested whether the manufacturers excise tax applies to sales of the three-wheel automotive vehicle described below.

The vehicle is designed for use in the delivery and collection of mail. The vehicle has one front wheel and two rear wheels which are axle driven by a nine horsepower gasoline engine through a propeller shaft and automotive type differential. The body is of reinforced plastic or aluminum. It consists of a driver's compartment and a mail compartment capable of accommodating a minimum of 40 cubic feet of mail. There is no door frame or body side members to interfere with ready entrance or exit from the vehicle. The vehicle is equipped with a head lamp, a tail lamp, directional signals, one seat, brake, clutch, and accelerator foot pedals. It may be equipped for steering either by handle bars or a steering wheel. The maximum gross weight of the vehicle is 1,450 pounds when loaded with 500 pounds of cargo and the driver, and the maximum speed attainable is 35 miles per hour.

Section 4061(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 imposes a tax on the sale by the manufacturer, producer, or importer of automobile truck chassis, automobile truck bodies, automobile bus chassis, automobile bus bodies, truck and bus trailer and semitrailer chassis, truck and bus trailer and semitrailer bodies, and tractors of the kind chiefly used for highway transportation in combination with a trailer or semitrailer.

Based on the facts stated above, it is held that the vehicle has the characteristics of an automobile truck within the meaning of section 4061(a) of the Code. Accordingly, sales by the manufacturer of this vehicle are subject to the manufacturers excise tax imposed by that section.