What to Do in the Event of an IFTA Audit

Even though the 3rd quarter IFTA deadline is still over a month away, don’t think you can put IFTA out of your mind entirely. Even though you filed your 2nd quarter return, paid the necessary fees, and even registered for your new license and stickers, unfortunately, there’s still the chance of an audit!

Now we know you’re a responsible trucker; you tracked your mileage properly and kept all of your fuel receipts nice, neat, and organized. But what you may not know, is that even if you do everything right, there’s still a chance you're going to get audited. Each base jurisdiction is required to audit three percent of its filers, just to make sure that truckers across our nation are keeping their logs and receipts properly.

So what can you do if you’re one of the unfortunate truckers that gets audited?

Get Your IFTA Information Ready

The first step (and only step, really) in a routine audit is for the auditor to go through and verify all of the information on your return. So you’ll need to have the following information ready to go:

Basic Information About Your Vehicle: 

• Driver’s Name and Signature
• VIN (vehicle identification number) 
• Trailer Number
• Registrant’s Name 
• Make, Model, and Gross Weight of the Vehicle 

Trip Log Information:

• Beginning and End Dates of the Trip 
• The Route(s) of travel 
• The Origin Point and Destination Point of each Trip 
• Odometer Readings Before and After Each Trip 
• Total Trip Miles
• Miles Traveled in Each IFTA Jurisdiction 

Fuel Record Information: 

• Receipts for Each Purchase (Please note that copied or scanned receipts are not acceptable.)
• Date of Each Purchase (If it’s not listed on the receipt) 
• Seller’s Name and Address 
• Price Per Gallon/Liter 
• Fuel Type

So just make sure you have all of the following pieces of information together, and you'll have nothing to worry about in the event of an audit.

And if you think maybe you got audited because you threw your return together yourself at the last minute, then next time, try using ExpressIFTA to generate your report. All you have to do is enter your fuel and mileage information and they'll calculate everything for you!