Taxes, driving empty/deadhead

every mile the truck moves

 

Trucks moves YOU PAY

 

There’s not many other ways to say it other than what’s been said. If the truck moves loaded or empty you pay. If you’re an owner you need to learn this stuff or you’ll have a long road ahead.

 

It's simple you pay for all the fuel you burn in each state. The more fuel you burn the more you pay. Just like a car you pay at the pump when you buy the fuel. Then you have to tell IFTA how many miles you drove in each state and how much fuel you purchased. Then the will send you fuel tax money you paid for at the pump to the states you drove your truck in.

 

If you drive a truck getting 5.5 MPG you will pay more taxes then a truck getting 7.5 MPG. Because you burn more fuel in each state.

 

What's harsh, this is a business.

 

If someone wants the best price on fuel or paying the best taxes on IFTA. You have know difference states have different tax rate on the fuel you buy. You can probably find a list online for each state diesel fuel tax. Oklahoma had a low fuel tax. So if you buy all you fuel in Oklahoma the tax is not enough to over the other states you drive in. So you will owe taxes. If you buy all you fuel in Illinois you probably get mo ey back because the have high tax rate.

So to get best deal on fuel and don't worry about the tax you want the cheapest diesel you can buy. You take the price of diesel in a state then subtract the state diesel tax rate per gallon. That gives you the real price of the diesel. So you do that for a couple states and you can now see what state have the best price.

Oklahoma used to be a good buy. Because the diesel is cheap. The tax rate low but that's ok. Illinois was a good buy because that tax was so high, the diesel price per gallon was low and you got a lot tax credit. Texas was a good buy. California was a bad price. Washington state was really bad. CT and Mass not good buy. Ohio is good buy.

If your in California going thru Texas. Just buy like 100 gallon or enough to fuel to reach Texas. Then fill up in Texas. If your in Ohio going to CT or Mass you fill up in Ohio even if you don't need fuel. Since it's the cheapest along that route. Then once in CT or Mass just buy 50 gallons to get back out or 75 gallons. You just don't want fill up in CT or Mass if you don't have too. I usually did ok and got like $5 refund from IFTA. Sometimes I had to pay $30.

 

It's pretty simple. You keep track of where you buy fuel and how many miles you drive in each state (all miles, loaded empty whatever, ALL miles). You pay fuel tax when you buy fuel, each state has a different tax rate on fuel. So when you do your quarterly ifta report they are basically redistributing the fuel tax money. Depending on where you drive and buy fuel you may have to pay a little extra or you could get a refund. Example.. I only drive in Iowa and South Dakota. I buy all my fuel in Iowa. South Dakota has a lower tax rate so I get a little money back each quarter. Now I only drive a few hundred miles in SD so my refund is usually like 1.50$

 

I don’t think he’s talking about IFTA. I saw that the OP replied on an old thread about filing income tax returns for states you do business in so the confusion of that old thread lead to the confusion in this new thread he started.