IFTA basics

The International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) lets a trucking company report fuel tax once, to its home state or province, instead of to every state it drives through. The home jurisdiction then shares the tax out among the others.

Who needs it

A qualified motor vehicle used across state (or province) lines needs IFTA when it:

• has two axles and a gross weight over 26,000 lbs, or
• has three or more axles, whatever its weight, or
• is a combination (truck and trailer) over 26,000 lbs.

A company with such trucks gets an IFTA licence and a pair of decals per truck each year.

The quarterly return

Every quarter you file a return listing, for each state or province:

• the miles your qualified trucks drove there, and
• the gallons of fuel bought there.

Fuel tax is owed where the miles were driven, with credit for tax paid where the fuel was bought. Returns are due by the last day of the month after each quarter — April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31.

What to keep

• Miles by state for every trip (from routes, logs or GPS).
• Fuel receipts showing the date, seller, state, gallons and price.
• Keep the records for four years.

In MoveBoard

• Each trip's Route & Stops tab shows Miles by state along the road, from the measured route.
• Fuel lines on a trip's Expenses tab take the gallons and the state.
• The IFTA report under Reports › Long Distance adds up miles and gallons by state for a quarter. See Trip expenses, fuel and IFTA miles.