When are IFTA returns due?

IFTA returns are due four times a year, one month after each quarter ends: 31 January for October to December, 30 April for January to March, 31 July for April to June, and 31 October for July to September. The dates are the same for every carrier. If the date falls on a weekend or a holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day.

Who has to file IFTA returns?

You need an IFTA licence if you operate a qualified motor vehicle across state lines. A qualified vehicle has two axles and a gross weight over 26,000 pounds, or three or more axles regardless of weight, or is used in combination over 26,000 pounds. If you only run inside one state you do not need IFTA.

How is IFTA calculated?

You record the miles you drove in each state and the fuel you bought in each state. Your fleet miles per gallon is total miles divided by total gallons. For each state, the fuel you should have used is miles in that state divided by your fleet miles per gallon. The difference between that and the fuel you actually bought there, multiplied by that state's tax rate, is what you owe or are refunded.

What happens if I miss an IFTA deadline?

A late return normally carries a penalty of $50 or 10 percent of the tax due, whichever is greater, plus interest. Your base state can suspend or revoke your IFTA licence. Running a qualified vehicle interstate without a valid IFTA licence and decals is an out-of-service violation.

Do I file IFTA if I did not drive that quarter?

Yes. If you hold an IFTA licence you must file a return for every quarter, even one where you drove no miles and bought no fuel. That is called a zero return, and missing it is treated the same as missing any other return.

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When is my IFTA return due?

Reviewed by Ray Sandhu DOT compliance, 14 years. Former safety director, 40-truck fleet. Last reviewed September 2026

Quick answer

IFTA returns are due 4 times a year, 1 month after each quarter ends: 31 January, 30 April, 31 July and 31 October. The dates are the same for everybody. You file even in a quarter where you did not drive. Miss one and your base state can suspend your fuel licence.

Key points

You file 4 times a year, not once.
The dates are fixed. They do not depend on your DOT number.
You need IFTA if you cross state lines in a truck over 26,000 pounds.
You file even in a quarter with no miles. That is a zero return.
Some quarters you get money back. It is not always a bill.
You must keep your records for 4 years.

The 4 dates

Quarter	Months	Return due
Q1	January to March	30 April
Q2	April to June	31 July
Q3	July to September	31 October
Q4	October to December	31 January

If the date lands on a weekend or a holiday, you get the next working day.

Do you even need IFTA?

Only if your truck is a qualified motor vehicle and you cross state lines. A qualified vehicle is any of these.

2 axles and over 26,000 pounds gross weight.
3 or more axles, whatever it weighs.
Used in a combination that goes over 26,000 pounds.

If you only run inside 1 state, you do not need IFTA. If you are under the weight, you do not need it either.

How the number is worked out

People think IFTA is about how much fuel you burned. It is not. It is about where you burned it against where you bought it. Every state wants the tax on the fuel used on its roads.

Add up your miles in each stateNot total miles. Miles per state. This is the part people get wrong.
Add up the fuel you bought in each stateFrom your receipts. The gallons, and where you pumped them.
Work out your fleet MPGTotal miles divided by total gallons. 1 number for the whole quarter.
For each state, work out the fuel you should have usedMiles in that state divided by your fleet MPG.
Compare it to what you bought thereBought less than you used? You owe that state. Bought more? That state owes you.

A simple quarter. You drove 20,000 miles and bought 3,000 gallons. Your fleet MPG is 6.67.

In Nevada you drove 4,000 miles, so you used about 600 gallons there. But you only bought 200 gallons in Nevada, because fuel was cheaper over the line. You owe Nevada tax on the 400 gallon difference.

In Arizona it is the other way round. You bought more than you used, so Arizona owes you. The 2 net off against each other on 1 return.

This is why chasing cheap fuel across a state line often saves you nothing. You pay the tax where you drive, not where you buy.

What it costs

Source: the quarterly due dates and the 4-year record retention rule come from the IFTA Articles of Agreement and Procedures Manual, which every member state follows. Tax rates are set per state and change quarterly.

The tax itself, which is whatever the sums come to. Some quarters it is a refund.
An annual licence and decals from your base state. Usually under $50, and some states charge nothing.
A filing service charges $25 to $89 per quarter.

If you miss one

A late return normally costs $50 or 10% of the tax due, whichever is bigger, plus interest that runs monthly on what each state is owed.

The bigger problem is the licence. Your base state can suspend or revoke it. Running a qualified vehicle across a state line without a valid IFTA licence and current decals is an out-of-service violation. The truck stops.

Enforcement is easy for them. Your decals are on both doors and an officer can check the licence in seconds.

Doing it yourself

You pay the tax and the licence fee. There is no charge to file. What costs you is the record-keeping.

Where it goes wrong

The mileage records. You need miles per state, per trip, for every quarter. Reconstructing 3 months of that from memory in the last week of the month is where most of the pain comes from.
Missing receipts. No receipt means the state can refuse to count the fuel you bought there. You pay tax on it twice.
Forgetting the zero return. A quarter you did not drive still needs filing. People find out when the licence is suspended.
Records thrown away. You have to keep them 4 years. An audit going back that far, with no records, means the state estimates what you owe. Their estimate is never generous.

None of that is difficult. It is just 4 times a year, every year, while you are driving.

We do all 4 quarters.

Put in your USDOT number. We read your official FMCSA record and tell you whether IFTA applies to you, plus everything else you owe. Free, and you do not need an account.

$89 a quarter, or take the year and we do all 4. Money back if a return is rejected.

When is my MCS-150 due? Your date comes from your own DOT number. Interstate registration (UCR) Every year, before you run. Annual truck tax (Form 2290) Due 31 August. No stamped form, no plates. Locked out of Motus? What changed in May 2026.

Filings USDOT details update Interstate registration Annual truck tax Fuel tax

Help Locked out of Motus Should I do it myself? About Filed [email protected] (800) 555 0100

Filed

We work out what your trucking company owes the government, and we file it.

We are a private company. We are not part of FMCSA, the IRS, the U.S. Department of Transportation, or any state agency. You can file your own IFTA returns with your base state.