IFTA Quarterly Filing Deadlines: Due Dates, Penalties, and Decal Renewal

2026-08-29 · FleetClear

The four dates

IFTA runs on calendar quarters, and the return is due the last day of the month following the quarter's end:

When a due date lands on a weekend or a legal holiday, jurisdictions generally move it to the next business day — but that is the kind of detail worth confirming with your base jurisdiction rather than assuming, because the penalty for guessing wrong is charged to you, not to the calendar.

Zero miles is still a filing

This is the single most common IFTA mistake, and it is expensive out of proportion to the effort it would have taken to avoid. If you hold an IFTA licence, a return is due every quarter you hold it — including quarters where the truck never turned a wheel, the quarter you were laid up after a breakdown, and the quarter you were between contracts. A zero return takes minutes. A missed one starts a penalty and interest clock and puts your licence at risk of revocation, which is what actually hurts: without a valid IFTA licence and current decals you are buying trip permits at the border on every crossing.

Penalties, in practice

The IFTA agreement provides for a late-filing penalty and interest on unpaid tax accruing per jurisdiction per month. The exact amounts and how your base jurisdiction assesses them vary, so check yours — but the pattern is consistent: the penalty is small relative to the operational damage. Repeated late filings lead to licence revocation. A revoked licence means trip permits, delays at scale houses, and an audit flag that follows you.

Decal renewal is a separate deadline

Your IFTA licence year ends December 31. New decals have to be ordered, received and displayed — one set per qualified vehicle, in the correct position on both sides of the cab. Most jurisdictions allow the prior year's decals to be displayed into the first two months of the new year while renewals are processed, provided the renewal is actually in progress; confirm the grace period and its conditions with your base jurisdiction, because it is not uniform and it is not automatic. Carriers who renew in mid-December and carriers who renew on February 27 both technically comply, but only one of them is calm about it.

Records that survive an audit

IFTA audits are distance-record audits. What you need to be able to produce, per trip, is the route, the total distance by jurisdiction, and fuel purchase receipts showing gallons, date, seller and vehicle. Retention is generally four years from the return due date or filing date. If your distance records come out of an ELD, confirm the reports it produces actually break distance out by jurisdiction — plenty of carriers discover during an audit that theirs does not, and reconstructing a year of state-line crossings from dispatch notes is the worst week of anyone's career.

Where IFTA sits in the rest of the calendar

IFTA is one of five clocks. Your MCS-150 biennial update is keyed to your USDOT number, UCR resets December 31, IRP runs on your cab card, and every vehicle and driver carries its own annual inspection and medical-card date. They do not line up, which is precisely why they get missed. See the full deadline list for your state.

Frequently asked

When are IFTA returns due?
Q1 by April 30, Q2 by July 31, Q3 by October 31 and Q4 by January 31 — the last day of the month following each calendar quarter.

Do I have to file IFTA if I ran no miles?
Yes. A return is due for every quarter you hold an IFTA licence, including zero-mile quarters. Not filing starts penalty and interest and risks revocation of the licence.

When do IFTA decals expire?
The IFTA licence year ends December 31. Most jurisdictions allow the prior year's decals to be displayed into the first two months of the new year while a renewal processes — confirm the grace period with your base jurisdiction.

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