To stay on top of IFTA reporting, the ideal situation is to use an IFTA reporting software in tandem with an ELD and fuel card integration. If you plan to manually track and log your IFTA records, you will need to keep a detailed log book of trip details including every fuel purchase, total miles driven, odometer readings, total gallons purchased, and miles traveled by state for your entire fleet. You'll need all of this data along with state fuel tax rates to calculate and file reports for your fleet.
First, gather all data for fuel purchases (purchase location, gallons purchased, state fuel taxes) and mileage by state. For calculating your IFTA taxes owed, it's recommended that you use an online IFTA calculator or IFTA software.
To calculate:
Total Miles Driven (All States) ÷ Total Gallons Purchased (All States) = Total Fuel MileageTotal Miles Driven (in State "X") ÷ Total Fuel Mileage = Gallons Burned (in State "X")Total Gallons Burned (in State "X") x Fuel Tax Rate (for State "X") = Fuel Tax Required (for State "X")Total Gallons Burned (in State "X") x Surcharge Rate (for State "X") = Surcharge Required (for State "X")Total Gallons Purchased (in State "X") x Fuel Tax Rate (in State "X") = Fuel Tax Paid (in State "X")Fuel Tax Required (in State "X") – Fuel Tax Paid (in State "X") = Fuel Tax Owed (in State "X")Fleet managers should have their IFTA return submitted to their base jurisdiction in either a yearly or quarterly report. Upcoming reporting periods for quarterly IFTA returns are as follows:
Reporting Period: July 1 - September 30
Due Date: Oct 31, 2022
Reporting Period: October 1 - December 31
Due Date: Jan 31, 2023
Reporting Period: January 1 - March 31
Due Date: May 1, 2023
Reporting Period: April 1 - June 30
Due Date: July 31, 2023
Reporting Period: July 1 - September 30
Due Date: Oct 31, 2023
Reporting Period: October 1 - December 31
Due Date: Jan 31, 2024