Understanding ifta and where to buy fuel

and they say that with a smile...

 

One more way to explain Fuel Tax in the following example.

If all you do is haul between Chicago, IL and Scranton, PA and go back from there to Chicago, IL (loaded or empty) and repeat the same loop over and over again, then the fuel tax you owe for that route is going to be the same regardless of where you purchase your fuel. You will have to pay to IL, IN, OH, PA fuel tax and their cuts are going to be the same for as long as you stay on that gig and, of course, the states don't change their fuel tax amounts.

Fuel tax is collected at the fuel pump when you purchase your fuel as it is included in the price.
However, depending where you fuel and how much you fuel there, you may not satisfy the tax amounts for some of the states on the route. For example, if you only fuel in OH then only OH is able to collect while IL, IN, PA is not.
IFTA is an institution that ensures that all of the states, you traveled through, are paid their required share. In that example, it will take all of the tax you paid already in OH and distribute to the states of IL, IN, PA accordingly.
It is possible, that the fuel tax collected from your OH fuel purchases may not be enough to cover all the tax liabilities or it may exceed the liabilities. When you do your quarterly Fuel tax/Ifta filings, it will be determined if you still owe fuel tax in which case you have to pay to IFTA the difference which they were unable to collect at the pump, or if you already overpaid at the pump, then IFTA will issue a credit to you.

Now, in order to determine where it is best to fuel on that route, you need to substract the fuel tax from the pump price and see what the 'naked' price is. Of course, you may also have your fuel card discounts to subtract too.
As a result, it may be possible that buying fuel where the pump price is the highest, will be the least expensive purchase.
Indeed, for quite some time already, it is best for me to fuel at Sapp Bros in Clearfield, PA, despite the fact that the pump price there is the most expensive among IL, IN, OH, PA.

P.S.
It may also be worthy to know that the fuel tax is not determined directly by the mileage you travel but rather by the amount of fuel you used on that mileage. Therefore, the better your average mpg, the less fuel tax you end up paying.

 

I thought in NY that traveling the thruway can make a company exempt from fuel tax there, unless I misread the receipt

 

Not sure about NY but PA wants its ifta money even if you use turnpike exclusively.

 

there is an exemption from the NY HUT for thruway mileage

 

Just paid mine for 2nd quarter and for the first time I had a small refund, so I calculated pretty well last quarter. Starting July 1st, California actually dropped their rates I believe 5 cents per gallon for IFTA. Of course that's 5 cents off of about the most expensive in the nation. It's now cheaper than PA I believe.

 

Ever since I started fueling in IL and PA because of their lowest price AND the discount after their fuel tax portions were subtracted, I got regular refunds too.
It is possible that a state with a substantially lower fuel tax could have their bare fuel price still lower than a state with a high fuel tax. For instance, MO vs IL, AZ vs CA, MD vs PA.
That's even more possible when you don't have discounts and only pay cash price.
That may result in your owing to IFTA but does not mean that you overpaid for the very fuel.
Owing to IFTA only means that you underpaid the fuel tax when fueling.
So if two owners travelled the same routes (with the same mpg) the both will pay the same fuel tax. If they bought fuel at different places, one of them can get a refund and the other owes money, the one who owes might still have spent less in the fuel cost.

 

Yes we f'n do. NY is slacking a bit too, 17 and 81, 88 are rough as a cob in spots

 

I buy fuel wherever it's the easiest for me. Don't sweat it one bit

 

Recordkeeping Requirements - Highway Use Tax

Some ny info