IFTA Reporting – Basics 101

IFTA stands for International Fuel Tax Agreement, in case you didn’t already know.

If you are a trucker, you know about IFTA reporting and that it is done on a quarterly basis.  Whether or not you are responsible for doing it or your company does it for you, it needs to be done on a quarterly basis.  All those fuel receipts need to be accounted for and reported.

The quarters for IFTA are as follows:  

January – March and are due April 30^th

April – June and are due July 31^st

July – September and are due October 31^st

October – December and Due January 31^st

You are required to report the following information with IFTA:

Miles in each state traveled and licensed in for the quarter

Fuel purchased in each state traveled and licensed in for the quarter

Fuel price per gallon of each purchase in each state traveled and licensed in for the quarter

All states require you to file your information quarterly and on time with them or be prepared to pay a fine.  Don’t expect any extensions on time, your state has heard every excuse in the book and can be pretty unsympathetic regardless of your excuse.

Some states will offer electronic reporting on the internet at their website.  Check with your state if this is available to you.  Otherwise your state will provide you with the tax rates and a reporting form for you to complete and mail back before the quarterly deadline.

To find the IFTA rates, visit their website at www.iftach.org and don’t forget that this information is FREE to everyone, no membership fees required.  Click on Compliance Tax Rates and then the quarter.  There is even an area to Download Tax Matrices which comes in very handy if you are licensed in more states than not.  Decide on what format you want and download the information to your computer.

Keeping track of all those little fuel receipts can be a real pain, but if you have a way of tracking it electronically, so much the better.  There are quite  a few different trucking software programs available such as www.easytruckingsoftware.com that will provide the tools needed to help you do your IFTA reporting by providing you with reports.

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