Trying to grasp how fuel tax and ifta works.

There is an app called Die$el, it shows you all states prices with ifta. In the app store type "diesel ifta"

 

Say fuel in WA $2.96-$0.445=$2.515
OR $2.74-$0.0 =$2.74
CA $2.90- $0.45=$2.45

CA would be the cheapest fuel out of the three in that example. Just put in what ever the real numbers would be and buy the cheapest fuel out of any state

 

Uh huh...because they get a massive discount off the pump price. I found a carrier that returned the discount to me. It was .90cpg....no kidding. It varied a few pennies per gallon but about .90. I couldn't believe the discount or that the carrier gave it to me. ( my truck ) ( and at the J )

Financially speaking they were the best carrier I ever worked for. They just didn't have a lot of work and would not play the rate game with shippers.......the price was the price.

 

90 cents per gallon seem pretty hight, unless it was Pilot Flying J because back when they got caught for scamming company and not giving them the discount they said and that was the settlement vs taking them to court. Because I only got 20 cents off at pilots/ flying j.
Petro/TA sold fuel at cost+ we paid the same price the truck stop did at the rack/ fuel terminal. Then we paid a pump fee of like $0.03 per gallon. So the truck stop only made 3 cent per gallon. TA/Petro have a fuel 800 number and you can find out everyday what the fuel price is. The TA in Noth Bend WA was like the biggest discount I ever got on a regular basis vs their cash price. It was like 60 cents per gallon

 

Q: Where is fuel cheapest?
A: Wherever the fuel price is lowest after subtracting IFTA (tax is $0.45 in CA, $0.445 in WA, 0 in Oregon).

Q: How much IFTA will I owe or get refunded?
A: IFTA is calculated based on your quarterly mpg and the miles you drove in each state. For example, if you drove the length of i5 and got 7.5mpg each state would get:

CA (797 miles): 797 / 7.5 = 106.3 gallons burned in CA. Multiply that by the tax rate of $0.45 and you get $47.82.

OR (308 miles): Oregon does not participate in IFTA so it does not matter your mpg. They charge $0.1638 per mile ($50.45)

WA (277 miles): 277miles / 7.5mpg = 36.93 gallons. Multiply by the IFTA tax rate ($0.445 per gallon) and you get $16.44


So essentially you owe a $48 toll every time you drive the length of i5 in California, $50 for Oregon, and $16 in Washington. Each state is owed that amount of money, regardless of where you fuel.


Lets say you happened to buy diesel in California. You bought 184 gallons of diesel (1381 miles / 7.5mpg). In doing so in California, you paid $0.45/gal fuel tax at the pump ($82.86). But you only spent $64.26 of it (47.82 in CA & $16.44 in WA) so you will get an IFTA refund of $18.60. You will still need to file the Oregon weight distance return ($50.45) separately.

Had you bought diesel in Oregon, you would have paid no tax at the pump, but at the end of the quarter you would still need to cough up $64.26 for the tax you owe on the diesel you consumed in CA & WA. And you would of course still owe Oregon $50.45...

So that means the diesel price you pay in Oregon needs to cost $0.45/gal less than it does in California and $0.445/gal less than Washington in order for it to truly be cheapest.

 

If you use Comdata download their app and put in your card number. Then you can see what the price is at each stop. Compare the price on the pump to the price on the app. The difference is the discount.