Oklahoma adopts new ‘place of business’ rules for out-of-state truckers

OKLAHOMA CITY (Feb. 6, 2002, via truckinginfo.com) — Out-of-state trucking companies who want to claim Oklahoma as their base state for vehicle registration can no longer use the address of a third-party licensing agent to do so.

Rules adopted by the Oklahoma Tax Commission on January 15 prohibit agents or third parties from providing the established place of business required for vehicle registration. Each registrant must have a physical address in the state where operational records can be made available for audits. If a lease or rental contract for the facility is signed by someone other than the registrant, an original power of attorney must be provided.

A registrant must also have a person or persons conducting business at that address, which cannot be an employee of the licensing agent. There must be a telephone number, located in the structure, which is publicly listed in the registrant’s name. It must be the only listing for that number.

Owner-operators who claim Oklahoma as their base registration plate are not included in the state’s new rules. According to a spokesman for the state tax commission, there is some ongoing discussion with administrators of the International Registration Plan regarding owner-operators, but Oklahoma currently does not feel they should be covered under the stricter rules.

Oklahoma tightened its base state requirements after the International Registration Plan threatened sanctions, including the potential loss of fees collected by other IRP members. Many other states had complained that the use of third-party addresses, coupled with lax auditing procedures, enabled new registrants to pack first-year estimates with mileage in low-fee states while shorting high-fee states.

After the organization threatened sanctions, Oklahoma adopted an IRP-approved system for first-year estimates.

The state did make it clear that registration agents may still be used to prepare and file applications and other documents. For more information, contact the Oklahoma Tax Commission, Motor Vehicle Prorate Section, 405/521-3036.