Maryland IFTA Filing Walkthrough: Comptroller of Maryland

Most IFTA guides describe the agreement. This one walks the Maryland machinery, because Maryland splits the paperwork in a way that surprises carriers who expect one office: fuel tax licensing and reporting sit with the Comptroller of Maryland under COMAR 03.03.04, while apportioned plates sit with the MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration in Glen Burnie. Two agencies, two web portals, two calendars. The credentials themselves cost nothing. The sourced facts render on the Maryland IFTA page; this walkthrough puts them in the order you will actually work through them.

The split that shapes the paperwork

Inside the Comptroller's shop, two units divide the work. The Field Enforcement Bureau's Licensing Unit issues licenses and decals; the Revenue Administration Division processes the quarterly returns. The whole program is administered under COMAR 03.03.04, which incorporates the IFTA Articles of Agreement, Procedures Manual and Audit Manual by reference.

Your plates live elsewhere. MDOT MVA Motor Carrier Services, Room 145, 6601 Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie, runs IRP, and every IRP transaction goes through the myMVA Business Portal or an appointment at an IRP branch processing office. The IFTA side files through Maryland Motor Carrier Connect instead. A carrier setting up in Maryland ends up opening two separate government accounts in two separate systems, and a question about credentials answered by the MVA contact center will end with a referral to Annapolis. The plate side of that setup is walked through on the Maryland IRP registration page.

Step 1: confirm Maryland is your base jurisdiction

Maryland is your base jurisdiction when the whole checklist holds: one or more qualified motor vehicles based in Maryland and tagged with the MVA, an established place of business in the state from which motor carrier operations are conducted, operational control and operational records kept in Maryland, qualified vehicles traveling on Maryland highways, and operations in at least one other jurisdiction. The qualified vehicle definition comes from the IFTA Articles of Agreement, which COMAR 03.03.04.01-1 incorporates by reference.

Two boundary cases matter here. A Maryland-tagged vehicle traveling exclusively in Maryland is exempt from IFTA registration, so a purely intrastate fleet has no IFTA business at all. The District of Columbia wrinkle runs the other way: D.C. does not participate in IFTA, so a carrier operating only between Maryland and D.C. must still hold a license and decals or run on trip permits. Carriers based in the District may apply to any member jurisdiction; Maryland accepts D.C. applications for consideration, and once licensed, the D.C. carrier files the same quarterly reports and meets every other Maryland licensee requirement.

Step 2: apply for the license and decals

The application goes in through one of three channels, all run by the Comptroller: online through Maryland Motor Carrier Connect, by email to the Licensing Unit, or by appointment at a taxpayer service branch office. Whoever files it, the application must be signed by an owner, partner, member or corporate officer, or by a licensing agent, and it needs the carrier's nine-digit Federal Employer Identification Number. Two things block credentials: a previously suspended or revoked license in another member jurisdiction, and misrepresentations or omissions on the application itself.

The price is zero, twice. Maryland publishes that it charges no annual renewal processing fee for the license and no fee for decals, which is why the Maryland IFTA page records both as zero instead of leaving them blank. What arrives: a license valid for the calendar year, January 1 through December 31, with the license or a photocopy maintained in the cab of each qualified vehicle, plus a two-decal set per vehicle, one decal affixed to each side of the power unit. The decals remain the property of the Comptroller and issue only to accounts in good standing, with no outstanding delinquencies, taxes, penalties or interest due to any state agency.

Two timing rules to diary. A newly purchased vehicle has 30 days from the purchase date to get licensed and display decals, and it may not operate outside Maryland until the decals are on. And a carrier found operating without the license in the cab draws citations and fines, and can be required to buy a trip permit on the spot. The Licensing Unit's address for paper is P.O. Box 2397, Annapolis, MD 21404-2397, telephone 410-260-7215.

Step 3: weigh the trip permit alternative

Licensing is the default, and the alternative is priced per entry. A carrier that qualifies as an IFTA licensee but declines to participate must obtain trip permits to travel through member jurisdictions, following each jurisdiction's regulations and fees, Maryland included on any return trip. The permits are sold by authorized vendors: Comdata, Custom Permit Company, J.J. Keller, Nova Permits, T-Check Systems, Highway Permits and West Coast Services, among others.

Maryland sets its own trip permit price by statute. Tax-General 9-219 fixes the payment at the motor carrier tax on 174 gallons of special fuel, valid for 15 consecutive days for the specific vehicle. Set that against a free license, free decals and four returns a year, and the permit route pencils only for a truck that rarely crosses the line. The permit mechanics, including what Maryland charges visiting carriers, are on the Maryland trip and fuel permits page.

Step 4: file the quarter through Motor Carrier Connect

Four returns a year, each due the last day of the month after the quarter closes: April 30 for January through March, July 31 for the second quarter, October 31 for the third, and January 31 for the fourth. A return must be filed even when there is no tax due or no miles travelled, which catches new carriers every first quiet quarter. Electronic filing runs through Maryland Motor Carrier Connect; paper goes to Comptroller of Maryland, IFTA, P.O. Box 2171, Annapolis, MD 21404-2171.

The rates you file against are national, and Maryland's own rates move every year: the Comptroller announces updated motor fuel rates by June 1, effective July 1, calculated under the statutory formula tied to the Consumer Price Index that Tax-General 9-305 established in 2013. Maryland's diesel line this quarter is $0.4745IFTA Fuel Tax Rate Matrix, 3rd Quarter 2026 (International Fuel Tax Association, Inc. (IFTA, Inc.))Verified Aug 10, 2026 per gallon in the national matrix. Read every jurisdiction you ran in off the IFTA rates by state table, run your miles and gallons through the IFTA calculator, and check the record set against the national how to file IFTA guide before you submit.

Step 5: price a late return before you skip one

COMAR 03.03.04.13 sets the schedule. Late filing with tax owed, or an underpayment on a timely return, draws a penalty of 10 percent of the tax due with a $50 minimum. Failing to file on time when no tax is owed still draws a flat $50 penalty, which is the number that surprises carriers who assumed a quiet quarter could be skipped. Interest accrues on late returns and unpaid assessments as prescribed in Tax-General Article, Title 13.

Skipping the return entirely is the expensive version. The Revenue Administration Division assesses the delinquency on the best information available, and where adequate records are missing, a standard of 4 miles per gallon may be used to determine fuel consumption, with the burden of proof on the licensee. Since almost no fleet runs that badly, the assumed number is almost always worse than the real one, and you are the one who has to dislodge it. Keep the records: retention runs four years from the due date of the final quarterly return, under the recordkeeping requirements COMAR 03.03.04.01-1 incorporates by reference.

Escalation is real and quick to reach. The Comptroller can require a licensee to post a bond of at least $1,000 after missed reports or unremitted tax, or upon reinstatement after a revocation, which itself demands a new application and new decals. The revocation path runs through a Notice and Demand letter with 30 days to comply, a hearing, and judicial review in circuit court within 30 days of the revocation. On cancellation the license and decals must be destroyed and records retained for four years from the due date of the final quarterly return. And the roadside floor: the Motor Carrier Handbook publishes a $240 minimum fine for failure to register or display valid IFTA documents.

Step 6: renew while the sources disagree

Renewal is the one place Maryland's own publications conflict, and the site records both statements rather than picking one. IFTA Compliance Manual Chapter 4 describes renewal notices going to licensees not in good standing while active licensees in good standing are renewed automatically with a new license and the same number of decal sets. A Comptroller motor fuel tax announcement says the opposite: licenses and decals will not renew automatically, and carriers renew online or on paper forms. Plan around the stricter reading: check the account in Motor Carrier Connect late in the year, because both paths agree that an account with delinquent returns or outstanding assessments does not renew.

The display rules reward the early filer. Credentials may be displayed one month before their effective date, and a carrier granted or submitting an acceptable renewal prior to December 30 gets a two-month grace period to display the new year's credentials while the prior year's remain on the truck. A carrier that fails to submit a timely renewal gets no grace period at all, so a January inspection can cite expired decals even with a renewal in progress.

The appeal clock if the Comptroller assesses you

Two short clocks protect you, and neither resets while you deliberate. A licensee has 30 days from a Notice of Assessment to apply for revision or refund with the Hearings and Appeals Division, 7 St. Paul Street, Room 210, Baltimore, MD 21202. From a final determination, the licensee has another 30 days to appeal to the Maryland Tax Court. Missing both leaves the assessment standing with interest running under Title 13.

FAQ

Who administers IFTA in Maryland?

The Comptroller of Maryland. The Field Enforcement Bureau's Licensing Unit issues the licenses and decals, the Revenue Administration Division processes the returns, and the motor carrier tax is administered under COMAR 03.03.04. The MVA's Motor Carrier Services office in Glen Burnie handles IRP plates, so a Maryland carrier keeps two accounts open with two agencies and two portals.

What does a Maryland IFTA license cost?

Nothing. Maryland publishes that it charges no annual renewal processing fee for the license and no fee for the decals, and the two-decal set issued for each qualified vehicle remains the property of the Comptroller. Both zeros are recorded as sourced fee fields on the Maryland IFTA page rather than as missing data.

How does a Maryland carrier file an IFTA return?

Electronically through Maryland Motor Carrier Connect, or on paper to the Comptroller's IFTA unit at P.O. Box 2171 in Annapolis. Returns are due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31, and a return is required even for a quarter with no tax due and no miles travelled.

What is the penalty for a late Maryland IFTA return?

Under COMAR 03.03.04.13, late filing with tax owed, or an underpayment on a timely return, draws 10 percent of the tax due with a $50 minimum, and failing to file on time when no tax is owed draws a flat $50 penalty. Interest accrues as prescribed in Tax-General Article, Title 13.