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Chapter 168

Section 168.012

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168.012 VEHICLES EXEMPT FROM TAX OR LICENSE FEES.
    Subdivision 1. Vehicles exempt from tax, fees, or plate display. (a) The following vehicles
are exempt from the provisions of this chapter requiring payment of tax and registration fees,
except as provided in subdivision 1c:
(1) vehicles owned and used solely in the transaction of official business by the federal
government, the state, or any political subdivision;
(2) vehicles owned and used exclusively by educational institutions and used solely in the
transportation of pupils to and from those institutions;
(3) vehicles used solely in driver education programs at nonpublic high schools;
(4) vehicles owned by nonprofit charities and used exclusively to transport disabled persons
for charitable, religious, or educational purposes;
(5) ambulances owned by ambulance services licensed under section 144E.10, the general
appearance of which is unmistakable; and
(6) vehicles owned by a commercial driving school licensed under section 171.34, or an
employee of a commercial driving school licensed under section 171.34, and the vehicle is used
exclusively for driver education and training.
(b) Vehicles owned by the federal government, municipal fire apparatuses including
fire-suppression support vehicles, police patrols, and ambulances, the general appearance of
which is unmistakable, are not required to register or display number plates.
(c) Unmarked vehicles used in general police work, liquor investigations, or arson
investigations, and passenger automobiles, pickup trucks, and buses owned or operated by the
Department of Corrections, must be registered and must display appropriate license number
plates, furnished by the registrar at cost. Original and renewal applications for these license plates
authorized for use in general police work and for use by the Department of Corrections must be
accompanied by a certification signed by the appropriate chief of police if issued to a police
vehicle, the appropriate sheriff if issued to a sheriff's vehicle, the commissioner of corrections if
issued to a Department of Corrections vehicle, or the appropriate officer in charge if issued to
a vehicle of any other law enforcement agency. The certification must be on a form prescribed
by the commissioner and state that the vehicle will be used exclusively for a purpose authorized
by this section.
(d) Unmarked vehicles used by the Departments of Revenue and Labor and Industry, fraud
unit, in conducting seizures or criminal investigations must be registered and must display
passenger vehicle classification license number plates, furnished at cost by the registrar. Original
and renewal applications for these passenger vehicle license plates must be accompanied by a
certification signed by the commissioner of revenue or the commissioner of labor and industry.
The certification must be on a form prescribed by the commissioner and state that the vehicles
will be used exclusively for the purposes authorized by this section.
(e) Unmarked vehicles used by the Division of Disease Prevention and Control of the
Department of Health must be registered and must display passenger vehicle classification license
number plates. These plates must be furnished at cost by the registrar. Original and renewal
applications for these passenger vehicle license plates must be accompanied by a certification
signed by the commissioner of health. The certification must be on a form prescribed by the
commissioner and state that the vehicles will be used exclusively for the official duties of the
Division of Disease Prevention and Control.
(f) Unmarked vehicles used by staff of the Gambling Control Board in gambling
investigations and reviews must be registered and must display passenger vehicle classification
license number plates. These plates must be furnished at cost by the registrar. Original and
renewal applications for these passenger vehicle license plates must be accompanied by a
certification signed by the board chair. The certification must be on a form prescribed by the
commissioner and state that the vehicles will be used exclusively for the official duties of the
Gambling Control Board.
(g) All other motor vehicles must be registered and display tax-exempt number plates,
furnished by the registrar at cost, except as provided in subdivision 1c. All vehicles required
to display tax-exempt number plates must have the name of the state department or political
subdivision, nonpublic high school operating a driver education program, or licensed commercial
driving school, plainly displayed on both sides of the vehicle; except that each state hospital and
institution for persons who are mentally ill and developmentally disabled may have one vehicle
without the required identification on the sides of the vehicle, and county social service agencies
may have vehicles used for child and vulnerable adult protective services without the required
identification on the sides of the vehicle. This identification must be in a color giving contrast
with that of the part of the vehicle on which it is placed and must endure throughout the term of
the registration. The identification must not be on a removable plate or placard and must be kept
clean and visible at all times; except that a removable plate or placard may be utilized on vehicles
leased or loaned to a political subdivision or to a nonpublic high school driver education program.
    Subd. 1a. Special markings on conservation officer vehicle. Notwithstanding the
provisions of this section, or any other law to the contrary, motor vehicles of the conservation
officer service need not be specially marked in any way.
    Subd. 1b. Markings required for conservation officer vehicle. Motor vehicles of the
conservation officer service shall have printed thereon the markings required by this section, for
tax-exempt vehicles.
    Subd. 1c. Payment of administrative, plate, and filing fee. The annual administrative fee
for a tax-exempt vehicle under this section is $5. The license plate fee for a tax-exempt vehicle,
except a trailer, is $10 for two plates per vehicle, payable only on the first tax-exempt registration
of the vehicle. The registration period for a tax-exempt vehicle is biennial. The administrative
fee is due on March 1 biennially and payable the preceding January 1, with validating stickers
issued at time of payment.
    Subd. 1d. State Lottery vehicle. Unmarked passenger vehicles used by the State Lottery for
the purpose of conducting security or criminal investigations or ensuring that lottery retailers are
in compliance with law and with their contracts are not required to display tax-exempt number
plates, but must be registered and must display passenger vehicle license plates. The registrar
shall furnish the license plates to the director of the State Lottery at cost. On applying for initial
registration or renewal of a registration under this subdivision, the director of the State Lottery
must certify, on a form prescribed by the registrar and signed by the director, that the vehicles
will be used exclusively for the purposes of this subdivision.
    Subd. 2. Farm vehicle. Implements of husbandry, as defined in section 168A.01, subdivision
8
, and tractors used solely for agricultural purposes or tractors, together with trailers or wagons
thereto attached, occasionally hauling agricultural products or necessary commodities used on
the farm from said farm to and from the usual marketplace of the owner, tractors for drawing
threshing machinery and implements of husbandry temporarily moved upon the highway, shall
not be taxed as motor vehicles using the public streets and highways and shall be exempt from the
provisions of this chapter.
    Subd. 2a. Small farm trailer. Farm trailers with a gross weight of less than 10,000 pounds,
drawn by a passenger automobile or farm truck and used exclusively for transporting agricultural
products from farm to farm and to and from the usual marketplace of the owner, shall not be
taxed as motor vehicles using the public streets and highways and shall be exempt from the
provisions of this chapter.
    Subd. 2b. Fertilizer trailer. A trailer used exclusively to carry liquid or dry fertilizer for use
on a farm shall not be taxed as a motor vehicle using the public streets and highways and shall be
exempt from the provisions of this chapter.
    Subd. 3. Special mobile equipment, snowmobile. Special mobile equipment and
snowmobiles shall not be taxed as motor vehicles using the public streets and highways, and shall
be exempt from the provisions of this chapter.
    Subd. 3a. Special permits. Motorized golf carts and four-wheel all-terrain vehicles operated
under permit and on roadways designated pursuant to section 169.045 are exempt from the
provisions of this chapter.
    Subd. 4. Camp equipment. Bunkhouses, supply cars, shop cars, and other similar camp
equipment mounted on trailers and used by highway construction contractors exclusively at
construction camp sites shall not be taxed as motor vehicles using the public streets and highways
and shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter. Such trailers with such mounted
bunkhouses, supply cars, shop cars, and other similar camp equipment thereon shall be listed and
taxed as personal property.
    Subd. 5. Carrier of certain equipment. Motor vehicles, which are used primarily for the
purpose of carrying sawing machines; well-drilling machines, pump hoists, and other equipment
registered under chapter 103I; barn sprayers or corn shellers permanently attached to them,
shall not be subject to the registration tax as herein provided, but shall be listed for taxation
as personal property as provided by law. The exemption in this subdivision for well-drilling
machines, pump hoists, and other equipment registered under chapter 103I applies regardless
of whether the well-drilling machine, pump hoist, or other equipment is also carrying materials
related to its operation.
    Subd. 5a. Vehicle used for testing. Motor vehicles operated for testing under section 168.25
are not subject to registration taxes under this chapter.
    Subd. 6. Fire truck or ambulance operated without profit. All motor vehicle fire
apparatuses and ambulances operated without profit while owned by a farmers' cooperative
association, a body of farmers, a volunteer fire department or association, or a group of citizens,
and used solely for the extinguishment of fire in the community in which it is so owned and
employed or, in the case of an ambulance used only for the benefit of the community in which it is
owned or employed, shall be exempt from taxation.
    Subd. 7. Vehicle not used; domiciled in another state. (a) The owner of a motor vehicle
that during any calendar year, or in the case of a vehicle registered under section 168.017 during
the registration period provided for in that section, is not operated on a public highway is exempt
from the provisions of this chapter requiring registration, payment of tax, and penalties for tax
nonpayment, but only if the owner of the vehicle first files a verified written application with the
registrar, correctly describing the vehicle and certifying that it has not been operated upon a
public highway.
(b) A motor vehicle domiciled in a foreign state, legally licensed in that state, and owned
by a Minnesota resident is exempt from this chapter; except that it is subject to section 168.181,
subdivision 3
, provided, that this exemption does not conflict with any existing reciprocal
agreement with the state in which the vehicle is domiciled.
    Subd. 8. 60-day exemption for vehicle of new resident. Every passenger automobile,
travel trailer, other than manufactured homes, or passenger car utility trailer duly registered in
any foreign state, district, territory, or country and displaying all license number plates or like
insignia required by the laws of such state, district, territory, or country shall be exempt from the
provisions of this chapter during the first 60 days of residence of the owner in this state; provided
that if the 60-day period expires after the 15th day of any month, the remainder of that month
shall be deemed to be within the 60-day period and provided further that any such vehicles shall
become subject to the provisions of this chapter immediately upon transfer of the ownership of
such vehicles or upon expiration of the registration.
    Subd. 9. Manufactured homes and park trailers. Manufactured homes and park trailers
shall not be taxed as motor vehicles using the public streets and highways and shall be exempt
from the motor vehicle tax provisions of this chapter. Except as provided in section 273.125,
manufactured homes and park trailers shall be taxed as personal property. The provisions of
Minnesota Statutes 1957, section 272.02 or any other act providing for tax exemption shall be
inapplicable to manufactured homes and park trailers, except such manufactured homes as are
held by a licensed dealer and exempted as inventory. Travel trailers not conspicuously displaying
current registration plates on the property tax assessment date shall be taxed as manufactured
homes if occupied as human dwelling places.
    Subd. 10. Exemption determined by use. If a vehicle is used for a purpose which would
make it exempt pursuant to subdivision 1 but title is held by a seller or a vendor or is assigned to a
third party under a lease agreement or a lease purchase agreement or installment sale permitted
under section 465.71, exemption shall be determined by the use rather than the holder of the title.
    Subd. 11. Semitrailer. Semitrailers as defined in section 168.011, subdivision 14, shall not
be taxed as a motor vehicle using the public streets and highways and shall display a number
plate for identification purposes only.
    Subd. 12.[Repealed, 1Sp2005 c 6 art 2 s 48]
History: 1949 c 694 s 2; 1951 c 690 s 1; 1957 c 166 s 1; 1959 c 133 s 1; 1959 c 151 s 1; 1959
c 178 s 2,3; 1959 c 562 s 2; 1961 c 340 s 2; 1961 c 621 s 1; 1965 c 176 s 1; 1965 c 871 s 1; 1967
c 56 s 1; 1967 c 117 s 1; 1967 c 876 s 2; 1967 c 905 s 9; Ex1967 c 48 s 57; 1969 c 95 s 1; 1969 c
965 s 1; 1969 c 1129 art 1 s 15; 1971 c 797 s 2; 1973 c 208 s 1; 1973 c 549 s 1; 1974 c 406 s 26;
1975 c 12 s 1; 1976 c 39 s 1; 1976 c 225 s 1; 1980 c 364 s 1; 1980 c 607 art 2 s 1; 1981 c 37 s 2;
1981 c 113 s 1; 1981 c 365 s 9; 1982 c 523 art 15 s 1; 1982 c 549 s 1; 1983 c 363 s 2; 1985 c 291
s 5-7; 1Sp1985 c 10 s 75; 1Sp1985 c 14 art 4 s 28; 1986 c 336 s 1; 1986 c 444; 1986 c 452 s 18;
1986 c 454 s 11; 1987 c 321 s 2; 1987 c 379 s 1; 1987 c 404 s 149; 1988 c 613 s 26; 1989 c 140 s
6; 1989 c 277 art 1 s 5; 1989 c 342 s 5,6; 1990 c 385 s 2; 1990 c 392 s 1; 1990 c 497 s 2,3; 1990 c
556 s 1; 1992 c 486 s 4; 1992 c 581 s 1,2; 1993 c 187 s 1; 1993 c 375 art 3 s 48; 1994 c 501 s 1;
1994 c 510 art 1 s 2; 1994 c 536 s 2; 1995 c 74 s 1; 1995 c 231 art 2 s 42; 1995 c 264 art 3 s 3;
1996 c 269 s 2; 1996 c 435 s 4; 1997 c 143 s 3; 1997 c 199 s 14; 1999 c 238 art 2 s 3; 2000 c 287 s
1; 2000 c 426 s 1; 2000 c 490 art 13 s 4; 2001 c 188 s 1; 1Sp2001 c 8 art 2 s 29; 2002 c 371 art 1
s 3; 2004 c 294 art 2 s 16; 2005 c 56 s 1; 2005 c 135 s 3; 1Sp2005 c 6 art 3 s 29; 1Sp2005 c 7 s 20

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Revisor of Statutes