The new IFTA tax tables are out. We updated our table so you don’t have to. The news from Indiana was pretty awful.
Indiana just raised their fuel taxes. They more than doubled them! West Viriginia added another 10% on their taxes too.
In Illinois, the diesel tax rate increased by a whopping 24 cents per gallon. In total, 11 states raised their diesel tax rates on July 1, 2019. As you can see, the increases aren’t significant. So what does this mean for you?
IFTA Fuel Tax
The International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) was designed to streamline the process of paying fuel taxes. Rather than filing fuel tax returns with every single state your trucks travel through, you file just one IFTA return. This is done quarter with your base jurisdiction or the state where your business is established. This return will include the number of miles traveled in each state, the total gallons of fuel purchased in each state and the amount of fuel consumed per state. Something which is used to determine the amount of tax owed for each jurisdiction.
The amount of fuel purchased in each IFTA member state is an important component in calculating the fuel tax owed to each jurisdiction. This is dependent on the fuel tax rates that are in place during the current IFTA quarter. Despite the streamlined fuel tax reporting process currently in place, it can still be difficult to keep track of changes in IFTA fuel tax rates. These rates are different for each member jurisdiction and are subject to change on a quarter-by-quarter basis.
With an IFTA sticker and IFTA login, the IFTA reporting process is far simpler and can save owner-operators and fleet managers a great deal of time and money, not to mention frustration. Using IFTA reporting software, you can easily track IFTA tax tables and accurately monitor your fuel purchases, utilization and costs for each member jurisdiction.
IFTA Tax Tables Updates
Why does it matter if the IFTA tax tables are changed? You still have to pay the taxes, right?
We have a suggestion for you: Don’t pay your IFTA. Manage your IFTA.
Instead of just filing up, try to plan where you’re going to fuel up next time. If you never buy fuel in Indiana because you stay on the interstate and don’t need fuel, it still might be worth it to cut that IFTA payment later. Get your tanks filled in Indiana and you’ll see that IFTA go down. This is management. Being strategic about where you spend money to reduce your taxes later.
Ultimately, you’re paying the same amount of money, but paying it a bit at a time at the pumps is a lot easier than putting a big chunk on your VISA card at the end of the IFTA month.
Wouldn’t You Rather Have Us Do It?
It’s hard to think of a trucker who isn’t using a software package to compute their IFTA. It’s harder to think about a trucker using a software package that doesn’t do anything else. The time spent on creating an invoice and then duplicating the work to figure out the tax bills is taking drivers off the road and hitting them in the wallet. And now that we’ve got to think about HOS, time spent on the IFTA is just going to annoy us even more.
Trying to use the IFTA tables to figure out where you should buy your next fuel purchase is too complicated if you’re not using an IFTA calculator that deals with your current data.
We’re talking about the IFTA a bit early, and maybe you don’t want to hear it about it yet. But using TruckingOffice to compute your IFTA in September will help you get ahead of the game. Know where to buy fuel, and how to file quickly and simply to get that stinking job done. Using TruckingOffice to create your invoices and figure out your IFTA taxes is only the start of what we can do for you:
- Routing
- Maintenance Scheduling
- LTL management
- Driver Settlement
- IRP
The list goes on and on. We’re a trucker’s best friend because TruckingOffice makes it easy.
We’ll make it easier. Our free trial will let you see how good we are without ever asking you for a credit card or debit card or checking account routing number. You’ll be thinking right with TruckingOffice.
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