Do you own a commercial vehicle that moves beyond your state? If yes, you are liable to file IFTA return through your base jurisdiction. For smooth filing of this tax, you should have IFTA license and this quarterly tax return is to be filed in accordance with the gallons of fuels used by motor carriers and the charges differ for all U.S states under the IFTA jurisdiction, published every quarter. In simple words, this IFTA tax involves the total gallons of fuel you purchased from states under the IFTA jurisdiction.
Besides having to file for commercial vehicles or motor carriers travelling beyond their state jurisdiction, there are other aspects to consider, as discussed below:
- Vehicles with two axles of vehicles having registered weight of 26,000 or more
- Vehicles used in combination, which exceeds the gross registered weight of 26,000 pounds.
To properly calculate your IFTA tax, commercial vehicle owners should take into account the company MPG or truck MPG. Either approach can be applied for calculating IFTA tax return but keeping in mind to check the latest fuel rates published by every state under the International Fuel Tax jurisdiction. IFTA members or those responsible for the filing the tax rely on these rates published by each member state. However, this year during the third quarter, beginning July 1st, there were some errors in the matrix.
According to the GMTA’s official release, this year the states of Georgia (and Nebraska) failed to provide the correct IFTA rates on time, resulting in filing the incorrect IFTA amount. In addition, the IFTA rates published by Georgia were lower than what the carriers filed. This resulted in many carriers filing additional amount. Now, carriers who have overpaid the taxes need to file for refund to get the additional amount back in their account. However, they avail benefits of filing a refund through their IFTA forms or simply carry forward the amount the next time they file the IFTA return.
Reporting IFTA tax every quarter is not easy because of the changes made to the tax rates by the states. However, the process becomes smooth and simple with TaxIFTA.com, product of ThinkTrade Inc. Here, we help you prepare your IFTA tax, also eliminating the chance of making errors. Choose us to prepare your IFTA return in a smooth and hassle-free manner. Let’s get connected for the next quarter! See you soon!