Fuel Tax Tip: File Your IFTA in Minutes, Not Hours

Fuel Tax Tip: File Your IFTA in Minutes, Not Hours

Four times a year, truckers are faced with the worst thing possible – a tax deadline!

Not just any deadline, though. The dreaded IFTA deadline.

So let’s talk about how you can get through the fuel tax deadline without losing your mind.

IFTA Basics:

First of all, newer truckers (or those not in the know) might wonder, what is IFTA?

To put it frankly, the the International Fuel Tax Agreement is a system used to collect and allocate taxes on fuel usage from truckers and transportation companies per base jurisdiction.

So basically, it’s the system used to distribute the tax money where it needs to go. Thankfully, this is actually the streamlined method of filing fuel taxes – it was even worse before. So maybe we shouldn’t dread IFTA reporting as much.

What Do I Need to Get Started?

Make sure you have your records ready to go, basically. But in more detail, you need the following:

• The total miles, taxable and nontaxable, traveled by your 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 the aforementioned truck, including taxable and nontaxable, in all jurisdictions/state 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.