IFTA tax rates
Every member jurisdiction sets its own fuel tax, and the rates are re-published every quarter. They are an input to your return, not something to remember — and the only safe source is the official matrix for the quarter you are filing.
How to read the matrix
- Pick the right quarter. The quarter you are filing for, not the one you are filing in. A Q3 return filed in October uses Q3 rates.
- Pick the right fuel. Diesel, gasoline, LNG, CNG and propane all have their own columns and their own numbers.
- Watch the units. US jurisdictions publish per US gallon; Canadian provinces publish per litre in Canadian dollars, and the matrix gives a converted US-gallon figure. Mixing the two is the classic error on a cross-border return.
- Take the surcharge line separately where there is one.
Surcharge jurisdictions
| Jurisdiction | What it is | Credit at the pump? |
|---|---|---|
| IN | Surcharge in addition to the fuel tax | No credit for gallons bought there |
| KY | Surcharge in addition to the fuel tax | No credit for gallons bought there |
| VA | Surcharge in addition to the fuel tax | No credit for gallons bought there |
The surcharge exists because those jurisdictions collect part of their fuel tax on the return rather than at the pump. You still owe it on every taxable gallon you ran there — you simply cannot have paid it in advance. In the calculator, tick the surcharge box on the row and it is computed without a purchase credit.
Rates are not the reason to fuel somewhere
Because the tax follows your miles rather than your purchases, fuelling in a low-tax jurisdiction does not reduce the tax — it shifts it from the pump to the return. What changes your cost is the base price of the fuel, and that spread is much larger than the tax spread: this week there is more than a dollar a gallon between the cheapest and dearest US regions.
The regional diesel numbers are here, and the trip calculator prices a specific lane against them.
Questions
Where do I get IFTA tax rates?
From the official quarterly rate matrix published by IFTA, Inc. Your base jurisdiction also publishes the rates it will accept for the quarter. Take them from one of those two places and nowhere else.
Why do IFTA rates change every quarter?
Because member jurisdictions set their own fuel taxes and some index them to fuel prices or inflation, so they move on their own schedules. The matrix is re-issued each quarter to capture whatever changed.
What is an IFTA surcharge?
An extra per-gallon tax charged by IN, KY, VA that is not collected at the pump. It appears as its own line on the return, calculated on taxable gallons, with no credit for fuel purchased in that jurisdiction — so a surcharge line is always an amount owed.
Do rates differ by fuel type?
Yes. The matrix lists diesel, gasoline, LNG, CNG, propane and others separately, and they are not the same. Use the row for the fuel you actually burned.
Does this site publish the rates?
No, deliberately. Rates change quarterly across 58 jurisdictions and a stale number here would become a wrong return with your name on it. The calculator takes the rate as an input so the figure you file is one you took from the official source.