Q: What is IFTA?
A: The International Fuel Tax Agreement is an agreement among the 48 continuous states and 10 participating Canadian provinces to simplify the reporting of fuel use taxes by interstate motor carriers who register for IFTA. Take a look at the IFTA member jurisdictions.
Q: Who has to file an IFTA return?
A: A report has to be filed for any qualified motor vehicle that travels between two or more member jurisdictions and has an IFTA license onboard and two vehicle decals (one on the exterior portion of the cab’s passenger side and the other in the same position on the driver’s side) issued to them by their base state/jurisdiction. To qualify, a vehicle used or designed to transport people or property must meet the following requirements:
- Has three or more axles; or
- Has two axles and a gross vehicle or registered gross vehicle weight of more than 26,000 pounds or 11,797 kilograms; or
- Is used in a combination that has a combined or registered gross vehicle weight of more than 26,000 pounds or 11,797 kilograms.
NOTE: A recreational vehicle used exclusively for personal pleasure is not considered a qualified motor vehicle, and vehicles used in connection with a business operation are not considered recreational.
Q: What are the advantages for registering for IFTA?
A: First of all, if you qualify for IFTA but choose to not register, you must obtain fuel trip permits to travel into or through each member jurisdiction. If you register, IFTA offers several advantages to consider:
- You can choose one IFTA-member state or province as a “base jurisdiction”
- You can obtain a single fuel tax license for all of your qualified motor vehicles, authorizing them to travel in all participating member jurisdictions; and
- You can file only one tax return each quarter with your base jurisdiction reporting on your fuel usage and mileage for across all IFTA member states and provinces.
Q: What’s required to file?
A: To file an IFTA quarterly tax return you will need:
- The total miles, taxable and nontaxable, traveled by the IFTA licensee’s qualified motor vehicle(s) in all jurisdictions/states, regardless if they participate in IFTA, which includes all trip permit miles;
- The total gallons or liters of fuel that is consumed by a qualifying motor vehicle, including taxable and nontaxable, in all jurisdictions/states, whether they participate in IFTA or not;
- The total miles and total taxable miles traveled in each member jurisdiction;
- The total taxable gallons consumed in each member jurisdiction;
- The tax-paid gallons/liters that are purchased in each member jurisdiction; and
- The current tax rates for each member jurisdiction.
Q: Where does the quarterly IFTA returns get filed?
A: You file your IFTA return in the member jurisdiction that assigned your IFTA license.
Q: How does Automile make this process easier?
A: Automile’s fleet tracking solution automatically calculates the distance your vehicles travel. Users can run detailed reports on the total distance traveled in each US state or Canadian province for any date range, and then easily export reports for IFTA filing.
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