IFTA Audit Ny

I use my logbook, rate sheets and fuel tickets. Then I plug stops in on PC miler and make a report and it's generally within 3% of logbook
I take the highest mileage and go from there. I'm not going to write in some little book every time I cross a state line, I'd forget to in most cases.
Some of these people agonize over this. I read what my state said you needed and use what I mentioned above to get that required information.

 

I realize that this post was a while back but......REALLY? Have you been audited? I used to conduct IFTA/IRP audits. Given those records I could easily have dropped you to 4.00 MPG and assessed you. Auditors HATE to have to revert to log books. Log books don't have all the information required which means that now the auditor has to do more work and match all your sources up. It also means that the auditor can use their best judgement when calculating what should have been reported which is not good for you. Auditor are typically allotted a certain number of hours per file size. In order to stay within in that and not have to explain to their supervisor why your audit is taking longer, they have to work a lot harder, some times in the evening or on the weekend. (Yes, that does happen more often than you think. And no they don't get paid for it.) I would have been asking maintenance records to look for odometer readings to see if you were even in the ballpark. I would have assumed you were lazy and didn't track fuel well based on lack of proper documentation in the mileage. I would have been reviewing fuel for the entire period not just the usual sample quarter. You are opening yourself up to further review by an unhappy auditor that is allowed to use "good auditor judgement". Of course, you can always protest but without original records it is hard to prove you are correct.

If the IFTA was found to be able to be audited, you would get hammered on an IRP audit. The record keeping requirements are very specific for IRP. Without proper documentation (prior to the 2013 application), the base jurisdiction has the right to bill you 100% base plate fees. 100% base plate fees means take whatever you paid to your base jurisdiction and subtract it from the full plate fee then add interest and penalty. No credits are given for any payments to other jurisdictions. Given that it is due to a lack of required records the penalty could be 20% for non-compliance instead of 10% for under reporting. It is a no brainer and a money maker for the base jurisdiction. Many jurisdictions go right for that. I believe starting with the 2013 application, the penalty for non-compliance with IRP record keeping requirements will be a percentage penalty across the board to all jurisdictions which will increase with each non-compliant audit up to a 100% penalty.

Personally, I would not recommend reporting off of drivers logs. Any PC Miler or other such reporting means nothing as it was not original documentation.

 

You might have a large amount to deal with. Many companies do not require the driver to note the miles at the border. They also use the pcmiler routing system.

 

First of all I didn't say IFTA, I said IRP. There is a difference in the record keeping requirements and assessment regulations. While you may think that the auditor is being overzealous, the IRP regulations are very specific about the records required and the penalty for not keeping adequate records. These are regulations for ALL jurisdictions to follow. Auditors follow the mandates of the jurisdiction for which they are employed and take their responsibilities seriously. Why should an auditor look the other way for a driver or company that does not comply with the regulations that all the other companies need to follow?

As to billing 100% and not crediting amounts paid to other jurisdiction you won't beat that with inadequate records. This is straight from the IRP Audit Manual available on their website:
"(c) Any Registrant failing to maintain adequate records from which true liability can be determined is subject to an estimated fee assessment, 100% fee assessment to the Base Jurisdiction, the application of penalty as prescribed by the laws of the Base Jurisdiction, and/or the cancellation of registration."

A 100% base assessment means that the company is billed a full base plate rate less whatever has been paid previously to the base jurisdiction at the time of application. SO..if the company paid 20% of the full plate rate to the base jurisdiction at the time of the application then they owe 80%. The 80% that was paid to other jurisdictions is not refunded nor is it credited against the audit assessment. It is in the regs and happens ALL the time. Most jurisdictions will not renew your plate if you don't pay your bill. The jurisdiction that I worked for would not renew that vehicle no matter to whom you leased it and would put a lean on it so you couldn't sell it.

Quite frankly, I think that the poster who recommended that DOT logs were adequate could be doing a disservice to anyone that followed that advice and wanted to let anyone wanting the information to see the other side of the fence.

 

You are very correct. If the company requires you to enter the routes of travel they may be completing the jurisdictional miles by that but I would doubt it. IFTA and IRP regulations require routes of travel and/or state line odometer readings.

I assessed owner operators as well as larger companies. Large companies hire attorneys that charge them but usually get the assessment down so that the jurisdiction gets a payment faster and no court rulings. Luckily, I don't have to deal with it anymore. I'm jumping sides.

 

IN auditor is correct 100% I had a FL IFTA&IRP audit and had my fuel mileage adjusted from 5.5 to 4.7 if I remember correctly, and nailed for 2 years of base plates. The audit happened after I cancelled my authority.

 

Were you using DOT records as the sole basis for your audit? How many hours did that lawyer charge you at what rate? How much time did you personally have to spend on the protest? How long did it take? What jurisdiction was this?
I'm interested in your definition of easy.

I don't really think that you read what I wrote. I wrote that if a company does not have adequate records that it can be billed 100% of the plate fees for the base jurisdiction. DOT records alone are not adequate to meet the IRP record keeping requirements. The base jurisdiction is the one you attest that you do have miles in so it is not a matter of made up miles. I am not referring to a case where the IRP mileages are audited, I am referring to a case where the registrant is deemed inadequate and therefore no audited mileages are presented just a 100% base finding.

 

I just finished an IFTA audit last month. He went back five years. Had to provide trip sheets and fuel receipts. We have bulk fuel in the yard so he asked me for the fuel in/fuel out records and the dip records (which I've never done...he said it was a requirement). Also asked me to provide the spare decals that I purchased every year. He asked for some other stuff too org charts, articles of incorporation, description of business blah blah. We are a little non descript in our routes on teh trip sheets so I was fully expecting him to ask me about that but he never did.

In the end I wrote a check for $19 CDN and got a credit for $17 USD I think.

 

So basically, your situation does not have anything to do with this particular conversation. My point was that records would be needed to cover your butt in an audit situation and inform people what could happen without them. You interjection that an audit can be easily beaten gave the impression that you beat one without records when in fact you were smart enough to actually have records. Sounds like you just want to vent because you had a bad experience with one auditor not really help another driver with what is required in an audit.

 

Pc miler is a recognized program and that's what most states use. You post what your state can do you fail to mention the person could file for injunctive relief and drag it out for years all the while still having ifta and irp. In y case if wouldn't make no difference you could stick the ifta and irp I'd just buy an X3 plate for my truck and run under cdl 26,000.
put a drum of fuel in the back of my truck ride all through IN. and say NO IFTA for you. So all your audit could do is cause all these states that rob us to get NOTHING from me.