Arkansas IFTA Filing Walkthrough (Quarterly)

Arkansas gives you the IFTA license and decals free, then makes you prove you already hold Arkansas plates before it issues either. The Motor Fuel Tax Section of the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) Revenue Division licenses Arkansas-based carriers on Form AMFT-71, and quarterly returns are filed and paid in the Arkansas Motor Carrier System (AMCS). The sourced deadlines and penalty text live on the Arkansas IFTA page. This walkthrough puts them in the order you will meet them, with the official source named at each step.

Step 1: get your Arkansas IRP account first

The IFTA application will not go through without it. The DFA's instructions for Form AMFT-71 ask for your Arkansas IRP account number and its expiration date, plus a copy of one current IRP cab card (Instructions for Arkansas IFTA Application, Arkansas DFA, accessed 2026-09-27, https://www.dfa.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/ArkansasIFTAApplicationInstructions.pdf). The only substitute the form accepts is an Arkansas farm or natural resource vehicle registration. Incomplete applications are returned, so a missing cab card copy sends you back to the start.

That makes IRP the first job, and Arkansas tightened IRP in 2025. Since October 1, 2025 an Arkansas base under IRP needs an established place of business on a lease of at least 12 months, with posted hours and staff on site at least 20 hours a week, and virtual or shared offices do not qualify (Arkansas IRP Apportioned Manual, Arkansas DFA, September 2025, https://www.dfa.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/IRP_Manual_September2025_2.docx). The Office of Motor Vehicle IRP Unit handles that side, and the Arkansas IRP registration page walks it. Plan the two accounts as one project, IRP first.

The IFTA application also expects Arkansas roots of its own: an Arkansas physical address and an Arkansas phone number.

Step 2: fill out Form AMFT-71

One form handles every request. Form AMFT-71 is marked Original, Renewal or Supplement, and the Supplement box is how you order extra decals partway through the year (Form AMFT-71, Arkansas DFA, accessed 2026-09-27, https://www.dfa.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/ArkansasIFTAApplication_1.pdf).

Gather these before you start:

• FEIN, or SSN for a sole proprietor without one
• Arkansas IRP account number, expiration and one current cab card copy
• USDOT number, or "Leased" if you run under another carrier's authority
• Legal name and DBA
• Arkansas phone number and Arkansas physical address
• Contact person and email
• Business type, with partners or officers and their home addresses
• Every jurisdiction where you store bulk fuel
• The number of vehicles that need decals

If anyone other than the owner, a partner or an authorized corporate officer will file for you, the DFA requires a power of attorney. When your account number arrives, check the first digit: Arkansas IFTA account numbers begin with 5, 6 or 7.

Send it to the Motor Fuel Tax Section, P.O. Box 1752, Little Rock, AR 72203. The current form has a Submit by Email button. Original and renewal requests need an original signature. Any decal request, whether original, renewal or supplemental, can also be faxed to (501) 682-5599.

Step 3: skip the fee hunt

Arkansas charges nothing for the license or the decals. Form AMFT-71 prints NO FEE beside the count of vehicles needing decals, and no fee appears in the instructions or on the DFA Motor Fuel Tax page (Motor Fuel Tax, Arkansas DFA, accessed 2026-09-27, https://www.dfa.arkansas.gov/office/taxes/excise-tax-administration/motor-fuel-tax/). The costs Arkansas does publish all attach to late returns, covered in Step 5.

The license runs for the calendar year and ends December 31. Each qualified vehicle carries two decals, one on the outside of each side of the cab, plus a copy of the license. Renewed credentials may go on up to two months before they take effect (IFTA Articles of Agreement R610 and R625, IFTA, Inc., 2026 edition, https://www.iftach.org/manuals/2026/AA/Articles%20of%20Agreement%20-%2008-26-26.pdf).

Step 4: file each quarter in AMCS

Returns are quarterly, one for each fuel type, due on the last day of the month after the quarter closes: April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31. A due date on a weekend or holiday rolls to the next business day. A paper return counts as on time if it is postmarked by the due date (International Fuel Tax Agreement Quarterly Tax Return instructions, Arkansas DFA, accessed 2026-09-27, https://www.dfa.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/ArkansasIFTAQuarterlyFormInstructions.pdf).

Most carriers will file online. The DFA's online quarterly form sits in AMCS at amcs.arkansas.gov. Enter total miles, taxable miles and fuel purchases by jurisdiction, then pay by credit card or e-check (Online Quarterly IFTA Tax Reporting Form, Arkansas DFA, accessed 2026-09-27, https://www.dfa.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/ArkansasIFTAQuarterlyFormInstructions_SelectOptions_2.pdf). The AMCS Help Desk is at (877) 425-9931, and Motor Fuel Tax questions go to (501) 682-4800. The paper return is still an option.

Sign it. An unsigned return is sent back and treated as late.

The return uses each jurisdiction's own rate. Arkansas diesel this quarter is $0.2850provisionalIFTA Fuel Tax Rate Matrix, 4th Quarter 2026 (provisional) (International Fuel Tax Association, Inc. (IFTA, Inc.))Verified Sep 27, 2026 per gallon in the national matrix. Look up every state you ran in on the IFTA rates by state table, and check your math with the IFTA calculator before you submit. The mileage and fuel records behind a return are the same in every member state, and the national how to file IFTA guide covers them.

A few thresholds from the paper instructions matter once you have a few returns behind you. Credits carry forward for eight quarters. A refund is paid only when it is $5.00 or more, and a balance due is sent in only when it tops $1.00.

Step 5: know what a late return costs

Arkansas sets the late filing penalty as a flat minimum or a share of the tax due, whichever is greater. It applies to credit returns too, so a quarter where you owe nothing still costs money if it is filed late. Interest runs on tax due to each jurisdiction at the rate for the late period, and the DFA publishes an IFTA interest rate schedule. The sourced penalty figures render on the Arkansas IFTA page.

Keep the records behind each return for four years from the date you file it. Any IFTA member jurisdiction can audit them.

Step 6: renew for the next calendar year

Renew on Form AMFT-71 marked Renewal, with an original signature and a fresh copy of a current IRP cab card. The DFA's pages give no renewal deadline, and none is invented here. Under the IFTA Articles the license simply expires December 31, so file the renewal early enough for new decals to arrive before January.

Your cab card copy has to be current when you renew, so renew the IRP registration on time as well.

When you do not hold an Arkansas IFTA license

A carrier based elsewhere licenses in its own base state, and those decals cover Arkansas miles. A truck entering Arkansas with no IFTA license at all has a different option, set by the Arkansas Department of Transportation. The driver buys Arkansas fuel equal to Arkansas miles divided by five miles per gallon before reaching the weigh station, or buys a fuel permit at the weigh station (Which Permit Do I Need?, ARDOT Motor Fuel Tax Audit Section, accessed 2026-09-27, https://ardot.gov/divisions/internal-audit/motor-fuel-audit-section/which-permit/). ARDOT publishes no price for that weigh-station permit, so none is given here. A vehicle with neither IRP nor IFTA also needs a trip permit. The Arkansas trip and fuel permits page lays out all four combinations.

FAQ

Where do Arkansas carriers file IFTA returns?

Online in the Arkansas Motor Carrier System (AMCS), run for the Motor Fuel Tax Section of the Department of Finance and Administration. The online quarterly form takes total miles, taxable miles and fuel purchases by jurisdiction, and it accepts payment by credit card or e-check. A paper return is still available.

What does an Arkansas IFTA license cost?

Nothing. Form AMFT-71 prints NO FEE on the decal request line, and neither the application, its instructions nor the DFA Motor Fuel Tax page states a license charge. The charges Arkansas does publish fall on late returns.

Do I need Arkansas IRP plates before I can get Arkansas IFTA?

Yes. The application asks for your Arkansas IRP account number and its expiration, with a copy of one current IRP cab card. Farm or natural resource tags can stand in for the IRP account. An application missing that proof is returned.