We have gotten to know our way around fuel tax by being a part of a 35 year old trucking software company, listening to our own users and clients for the past three years, and attending the last three IFTA / IRP Audit Workshops. For example, we have learned the best ways to get your miles-per-state or kilometers-per-province data.
In order of acceptance from an auditor’s point of view, we recommend the following ways to get your miles-per-state data:
- ELD – this is the most accurate device for recording your miles per state available in the market today. You can either use odometer readings or mileage from this device to get your miles per state.
- AOBRD / GPS – records data less often than an ELD. You can use odometer readings or mileage, depending on the capabilities of the device you are using.
- Manual Odometer Readings – by writing down or entering into a fuel tax program the start, state line(s), and end odometer readings of your delivery (example – start: Los Angeles, state line: California/Nevada, end: Las Vegas). These are considered your actual miles traveled.
- Manual Total distance per state – if you do not have your odometer readings, you can enter your distance or mileage you traveled in each state.
- Estimation – you can estimate your miles-per-state using any routing program.
eTruxFuel can handle all of the above ways to generate your IFTA reports. Remember, IFTA auditors want to see actual miles-per-state that can be verified against the truck’s odometer or truck’s computer. If you get audited, you must have a way to prove your miles or have a paper trail to verify your fuel tax data.
