How to get a Texas IFTA license and keep it current

A Texas-based carrier needs a Texas IFTA license, or fuel trip permits for every trip, when it runs a qualified motor vehicle in Texas and at least one other IFTA jurisdiction. There is no mileage threshold.

A qualified motor vehicle carries people or property and has:

• Two axles and a gross or registered gross vehicle weight over 26,000 pounds (11,797 kg)
• Three or more axles, regardless of weight (only the power unit's axles count)
• Or a combination weight over 26,000 pounds (11,797 kg)

The combination rule catches hotshot pickups. The Comptroller treats a pickup pulling a trailer over 26,000 pounds combined as qualified. Once it is licensed, all of its miles for the license year go on the return, with or without the trailer.

Is Texas your base jurisdiction?

Texas is your base jurisdiction when all three of these are true:

• Your qualified vehicles are registered in Texas and travel on Texas highways
• You have an established place of business in Texas from which you run motor carrier operations
• You keep operational control and records in Texas, or can make the records available there

If you have held an IFTA license in another jurisdiction, you must be in good standing there before Texas will license you. Carriers that run only between Texas and Mexico can't get an IFTA license; they need a Texas interstate trucker license or a trip permit for each entry.

A carrier that leaves Texas only now and then can buy fuel trip permits instead, as our temporary fuel permit guide explains. If you are still setting up the company, our guide to starting a trucking company in Texas shows where IFTA fits among the other credentials.

Apply through the Comptroller's Webfile system or on paper Form AP-178. Either way, Texas charges no fee for IFTA registration, the license, or the decals.

Step 1: Apply on Webfile or on paper

On Webfile, create an eSystems profile first if you don't have one; the application itself takes about 10 minutes. On paper, send Form AP-178 by mail, fax, or email. A field office will accept it, but only forwards it for processing.

Step 2: Pick a realistic effective date

AP-178 asks when you want the license to start. It can't be earlier than the date the Comptroller receives the application, so apply before the first out-of-state run, not after it.

Step 3: Plan for the wait

Applications are processed in the order received, and the license and decals come by mail. Texas issues no temporary IFTA licenses, and new applicants can't get temporary decals. Until your credentials arrive, a truck that leaves Texas needs fuel trip permits for the jurisdictions it enters.

Step 4: Check and place the credentials

You get one license for the whole fleet and two decals for each qualified vehicle. Put a legible copy of the license in every qualified truck and fix one decal on each side of the cab. Once affixed, a decal can't be moved to another truck.

A truck without a copy of the license is not treated as operating under it. That can mean a citation and a trip permit at every state line.

Keep distance and fuel records for every qualified vehicle for four years from the return's due date or filing date, whichever is later. The full list of trip and receipt fields is in our IFTA quarterly return guide. These are the Texas points that most often cause audit findings:

• Fuel card receipts must name the truck. Either assign each card to one vehicle, or write the unit or plate number on the receipt. You also need a monthly summary of miles and fuel for each licensed vehicle.
• The purchaser is the company. The receipt names the business the fuel was bought for, not the driver.
• No altered receipts. Texas won't accept receipts with alterations or erasures.
• Trips must chain together. Each trip's starting odometer should match the last trip's ending reading. Unexplained differences, called gap miles, are an audit issue, and auditors assign them to where the truck most likely ran.
• Every Texas mile is taxable. Texas has no tax-exempt miles, so on-highway and incidental off-highway miles in Texas all count.
• Bulk tanks need their own records. Withdrawals by tank, date, gallons, fuel type, and unit number, plus a quarterly inventory reconciliation for each tank.

GPS-based records must show the date, time, and location of each reading at intervals that validate the miles in each jurisdiction, plus odometer or ECM readings and the unit number. Our guide to using your ELD for IFTA covers that setup.

When records fall short in an audit, the Comptroller can estimate your fuel use, apply 4.0 miles per gallon, cut your reported MPG by 20%, or disallow tax-paid fuel you can't document. The burden of proof is on you, and audits come with at least 30 days' notice.