IFTA filing dates for 2026 and 2027, with the weekend rule applied

IFTA filing dates come from one rule in the IFTA Articles of Agreement, so they are the same in every member jurisdiction. What changes each year is which due dates land on a weekend. Below, the rule is applied to every date through April 2027, with the renewal and grace dates around them.

The IFTA year at a glance

Tap a date for what it means. The line above the months counts down to the next return from today's date. The download button puts every date into your phone or computer calendar.

Source: IFTA, Inc., IFTA Articles of Agreement (effective Aug 26, 2026), R960, R630, R655 · checked Oct 2026

When are IFTA reports due? Every quarter, in one table

The rule, quoted from the agreement: the return and full payment are due "on the last day of the month following the close of the reporting period," and if that day falls on "a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday," the next business day is the due date. Legal holidays are set by each base jurisdiction, so a state holiday can move a date that isn't on this table. Check your base jurisdiction's IFTA page each quarter.

Filing on time doesn't mean filing on the last day. You can file as soon as the quarter has closed and your records are complete, and not receiving a form from your base jurisdiction doesn't excuse a late return. A return filed in the first two weeks leaves time to chase a missing receipt.

When is IFTA due if you didn't drive, or barely drove

The agreement is direct about it: "Tax returns are required even if no operations were conducted or no taxable fuel was used." A truck parked for a whole quarter still needs a zero return by the same date.

Two exceptions to know:

• Annual filing. A carrier with fewer than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) outside its base jurisdiction over 12 straight months can ask its base jurisdiction to file once a year. The annual return is due January 31.
• Zero quarters add up. A base jurisdiction can deny renewal to a carrier reporting zero or home-state-only miles for three or more quarters in a row. If your truck stays in state, you may not need IFTA at all; see what IFTA reports contain for who files.

Source: IFTA, Inc., IFTA Articles of Agreement (effective Aug 26, 2026), R930, R345.300 · checked Oct 2026

IFTA renewal and decal dates

Licenses and decals run by calendar year, January 1 to December 31. Three rules shape the renewal season:

• Renewal needs a clean account. A renewal license and decals are issued only if every return has been filed and every tax, penalty and interest charge paid.
• Early display. Renewal credentials may be used up to two months before their effective date, so from November 1. You still file the fourth-quarter return for the old year.
• Grace period. January and February are a grace period for displaying the new decals. During it, trucks must carry either valid current or prior-year credentials, or a trip permit.

Each base jurisdiction runs its own renewal. As one example, New York opens online renewal on November 1, 2026, asks for applications by November 30 to get decals before they expire, charges $8 for each set of two decals, and requires renewal by December 31, 2026.

Source: IFTA, Inc., IFTA Articles of Agreement (effective Aug 26, 2026), R345.100, R630, R655.200 · checked Oct 2026

Source: New York State Dept. of Taxation and Finance, IFTA renewal · checked Oct 2026

What a quarter's return looks like on the due date

Carrier B is made up. One truck, 24,000 miles in a quarter at 6.5 mpg, through Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania. It bought fuel in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania but never filled up in Illinois. Rates are real: the IFTA, Inc. matrix for 4Q 2026, special diesel.

Source: IFTA, Inc., IFTA tax rate matrix, 4th quarter 2026 · checked Oct 2026

Illinois got 5,000 miles and no fuel purchases, so Carrier B owes Illinois for every gallon burned there at $0.738 a gallon. Indiana and Ohio owe credits because more fuel was bought there than those miles used. IFTA tax is settled by the miles you drive in each state, not by where you buy fuel. The net is a modest amount owed, and it is due with the return on the date in the table above. The IFTA fuel tax calculator runs this grid with your own miles and gallons.

What a missed date costs you

The penalty for a late or missing return, or an underpayment, may be $50 or 10% of the late tax, whichever is greater. Interest is added on unpaid tax: for U.S.-based fleets, two percentage points above the IRS underpayment rate, reset each January 1 and charged monthly at one twelfth of the annual rate. Your base jurisdiction can add its own penalties on top.

In cost-per-mile terms, a $50 penalty over Carrier B's 24,000 miles is a fraction of a cent. The real cost is what follows: it repeats every late quarter, an unpaid balance blocks renewal, and repeated late filing can bring a bond requirement. File on time, with clean records.

Source: IFTA, Inc., IFTA Articles of Agreement (effective Aug 26, 2026), R1220.100, R1230.100 · checked Oct 2026

Records to have ready before each date

Keep fuel receipts and distance records by trip and by jurisdiction, and keep them for four years from the date the return was due or filed, whichever is later, plus any time under audit. Receipts that are missing, or miles that don't match your ELD, are what an IFTA audit turns into extra tax.

Source: IFTA, Inc., IFTA Procedures Manual (effective Aug 26, 2026), P510 · checked Oct 2026

If you'd rather not do it yourself, compare IFTA filing services or the tools in IFTA reporting software and apps. Either way, the dates don't move for them.

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Free to use with a link back. Refreshed every year.

Where dispatch fits

Fuel tax rides on every mile, so it belongs in the rate. Our truck dispatch service books loads with fuel in the math, and weekly reports keep each load's miles by state, ready for the return. Every load is offered to you first, and you decide.

General information, not tax advice. Rules and rates change every year and depend on your situation: confirm with a tax professional before you file. We are not a tax preparer or accountant.