By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Aug 9, 2026
Indiana runs two fuel-tax licenses out of the same office, and picking the wrong one is the classic Indiana mistake. The International Fuel Tax Agreement license is for interstate carriers that travel in Indiana plus at least one other jurisdiction. A carrier that never leaves Indiana holds an Indiana Motor Carrier Fuel Tax license instead. If a fleet has both apportioned-plated vehicles that leave the state and Indiana base-plated vehicles that do not, the whole fleet is licensed under IFTA.
Indiana IFTA administration
- License fee
- $25 ($25 application fee, paid with Form IFTA-1A. The $25 is an application fee rather than a per-vehicle charge. The same $25 opens an intrastate Motor Carrier Fuel Tax account on Form MCFT-1A, and IC 6-6-4.1-12(b) fixes that annual permit fee at $25.)
- Decal fee
- Indiana publishes no separate decal charge. One set of decals is issued for each qualified vehicle when the application is processed, along with one IFTA license cab card for the company, and additional decals may be requested for qualified motor vehicles added during the calendar year.
- Application: methods
- Scan or fax the signed application with a credit card authorization form to [email protected] or fax 317-615-7333, or mail it with a $25 check payable to the Indiana Department of Revenue to Motor Carrier Services, IFTA / MCFT Section, 7811 Milhouse Road, Suite M, Indianapolis, IN 46241-9612.
- Application: appointment
- A new IFTA account is opened by appointment with Motor Carrier Services or by email at [email protected]. Appointments are scheduled online or by calling 317-615-7200 and are limited to one person or one account each.
- Application: requirements
- The application asks for the FEIN, the owner, partner or officer Social Security numbers, the Indiana taxpayer identification number if already established, the IRP account number if already established, the USDOT number if already established, the number of qualified vehicles needing decals, the fuel types consumed, and whether the entity keeps bulk fuel storage tanks and in which jurisdictions.
- Application: power of attorney
- If the contact person is an authorized agent rather than an owner, partner or responsible officer, a completed Form POA-1 must be enclosed.
- Application: documents
- The document checklist differs by whether the business address is commercial or residential property and by entity type (sole proprietorship, single or multi-member LLC, corporation, partnership).
- Filing frequency
- Quarterly. IC 6-6-4.1-10(a) requires each carrier subject to the tax to submit the quarterly report on or before the last day of the month immediately following that quarter, which puts the four returns on April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31. All reports must be filed and all taxes remitted in an electronic format prescribed by the department.
- Base jurisdiction: test
- Indiana is the base jurisdiction for IFTA licensing and reporting of interstate motor carrier activity if the carrier has qualified motor vehicles registered in Indiana, has an established place of business in Indiana from which motor carrier operations are performed, and maintains the operational control and operational records for qualified motor vehicles in Indiana or can make those records available in Indiana.
- Base jurisdiction: residency alternative
- To qualify for a new IFTA account in Indiana a carrier must either claim Indiana as its base jurisdiction through a qualifying established place of business, or reside in Indiana. Most owner-operators, sole proprietors and new Indiana businesses establish base jurisdiction through residency, and residency may also apply where a business new to Indiana cannot yet prove an established place of business.
- Base jurisdiction: membership
- IFTA member jurisdictions are all of the United States and the Canadian provinces except Alaska, Hawaii, Washington D.C., the Northwest Territory and the Yukon Territory.
- Base jurisdiction: mixed fleet rule
- A fleet holding both International Registration Plan apportioned plates with out-of-state travel and Indiana base plates traveling only inside Indiana is licensed for the entire fleet under IFTA.
- Base jurisdiction: statutory scope
- IC 6-6-4.1-14.5 limits the International Fuel Tax Agreement to determining the base state for users, records requirements, audit procedures, information exchange, who is eligible for tax licensing, what counts as a qualified motor vehicle, whether bonding is required, and reporting requirements and periods including uniform late penalties and interest rates. It does not limit the General Assembly's authority to set the tax or its rates.
- Late-filing penalty
- IC 6-6-4.1-23 makes a person who fails to file a return by the due date, fails to pay the full amount of tax shown on the return by the due date, or incurs a negligence deficiency on examination subject to a penalty, and sets that penalty at the amount calculated under the penalty provisions of the International Fuel Tax Agreement.
- Penalty: interest
- IC 6-6-4.1-22 charges interest on a failure to file, a failure to pay the full amount shown on the return by the due date, or a deficiency determined by the department, at the rate of interest calculated under the interest provisions of the International Fuel Tax Agreement.
More Indiana IFTA rules
- Qualified motor vehicle: test
- A qualified vehicle is one that travels in Indiana and at least one other jurisdiction to transport persons or property and has two axles with a gross vehicle weight or registered weight in excess of 26,000 pounds, or three axles or more regardless of weight, or is used in combination where the combined gross vehicle weight or combined registered weight exceeds 26,000 pounds.
- Qualified motor vehicle: alternative fuel exception
- A carrier that does not cross state lines but operates a qualified vehicle running on alternative fuel completes Form MCFT-1A for intrastate fuel tax registration and reporting instead.
- Credentials: summary
- Processing produces one set of decals for each qualified vehicle and one IFTA license cab card for the company. The carrier photocopies the cab card for each qualified vehicle, keeps the original on file, and keeps a copy in the cab of each vehicle at all times.
- Credentials: closure
- Closing an IFTA account requires Form OSS-1, the return of all assigned decals and licenses, and the filing of the last quarterly tax return even if it shows zero activity. Failing to return the decals means quarterly returns keep falling due to the end of the credential period, including the fourth quarter return due January 31 of the following year.
- Filing portal
- Motor Carrier customers must manage all IFTA, MCFT and Proportional Use Credit transactions online in the Fuel Tax System, including processing and paying quarterly tax returns, renewals and ordering additional decals. The only exception is a motor carrier holding a current online exemption.
- Filing forms
- Quarterly Fuel Tax return Form IFTA-101 for an IFTA licensee, Form MCFT-101 for an intrastate Motor Carrier Fuel Tax licensee.
- No operations return
- A quarterly tax return is required by the due date for every quarter in which the carrier holds a fuel tax license and issued compliance decals. A carrier that accumulated no miles files the return showing zero miles and zero gallons used.
- Renewal
- Annual. A renewal application must be submitted for the next calendar-year compliance decals and IFTA license cab card. Failing to renew in a timely manner may result in penalties or revocation fees.
- Bond requirement: rule
- IC 6-6-4.1-8 provides for a bond, letter of credit or cash deposit and for release from liability, and IC 6-6-4.1-14.5 lists determining whether bonding is required among the matters the International Fuel Tax Agreement covers. Neither Form IFTA-1A nor the Department of Revenue's IFTA pages state a standing bond requirement for a first-time Indiana applicant, so none is recorded.
- Trip permit: summary
- A carrier may buy a trip permit instead of paying the tax that a particular commercial motor vehicle's operation would otherwise generate. The permit authorizes operation for five consecutive days, with the beginning and ending days stated on its face, and the quarterly report is not required for a vehicle covered by one.
- Trip permit: repair and maintenance
- An IFTA repair and maintenance permit lets a carrier travel from another state into Indiana to repair or maintain its motor vehicles, semitrailers or trailers and return to the same state. The annual fee is $40, it applies to all of the carrier's motor vehicles, it is not transferable to another carrier, and no cargo or passengers may be carried under it.
- Intrastate mcft: summary
- Indiana levies its own intrastate fuel tax, the Motor Carrier Fuel Tax, on carriers whose commercial vehicles never leave the state. A fuel tax account, MCFT license and MCFT decals are required, and the application is Form MCFT-1A, Intrastate Motor Carrier Fuel Tax Annual Permit Application, with a $25 application fee.
- Intrastate mcft: who needs it
- Commercial vehicles used, designed or maintained to transport persons or property that travel only in Indiana and have three axles or more on the power unit regardless of weight, or a combination of power unit and trailing unit with a combined gross vehicle weight over 26,000 pounds, or any vehicle over 26,000 pounds gross or registered vehicle weight.
- Intrastate mcft: exempt vehicles
- Vehicles operated by the United States or by an agency of states in which Indiana participates, privately used school buses, vehicles used in any bus operations, vehicles registered by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles as farm or under a similar law of another state, intercity buses, vehicles displaying dealer plates, and recreational vehicles.
- Intrastate mcft: annual permit
- IC 6-6-4.1-12 requires an annual permit, cab card and emblem before a carrier may operate a commercial motor vehicle on Indiana highways, sets the annual permit fee at $25, and requires the application not later than September 1 of the year before the permit takes effect. The permit, cab card and emblem run January 1 through December 31, and the department may extend the expiration by not more than 60 days.
- Intrastate mcft: decals
- One decal is sent for each qualified vehicle. Decals are required only for qualified vehicles using propane or butane, electricity, hydrogen, or hythane.
- Intrastate mcft: rates
- The Motor Carrier Fuel Tax is not a separate rate schedule. The Department of Revenue publishes one MCFT rate set for each fiscal year running July 1 to June 30, carrying a gasoline rate, a special fuel rate and an alternative fuel rate, and each one equals the Indiana tax already charged on that fuel. The figures themselves render from the refreshed national fuel tax matrix on this site rather than being restated here, so an intrastate carrier reads the same Indiana per-gallon numbers an interstate carrier does.
- Intrastate mcft: rate mechanism
- IC 6-6-4.1-4 ties the MCFT rate to the underlying Indiana fuel taxes: special fuel other than an alternative fuel or natural gas product is taxed at the IC 6-6-2.5 special fuel rate, gasoline at the IC 6-6-1.1 gasoline rate, and natural gas products and alternative fuels at the equivalent special fuel rate per diesel gallon, gasoline gallon or gallon equivalent.
- Intrastate mcft: quarterly exemption
- IC 6-6-4.1-10(b) exempts a carrier from the quarterly reporting requirement where all or substantially all of its previous calendar year mileage was in Indiana and the motor fuel used was purchased in Indiana with the IC 6-6-1.1 or IC 6-6-2.5 tax paid. A carrier meeting those conditions but using some alternative fuel reports and pays only on the alternative fuel. Either way the carrier still keeps the books and records required by IC 6-8.1-5.
- Proportional use credit: summary
- Indiana runs a Proportional Use Credit for carriers whose vehicles use fuel to power equipment rather than to move the truck. Claims are filed on Form PROP-1 for certification and, since January 1, 2025, must be submitted online through the MCS Fuel Tax System unless the carrier is online-exempt. Failure to submit the quarterly tax returns with payment results in denial of the credit claim.
- Contact: email
- [email protected]
- Contact: new accounts email
- [email protected]
Quarterly filing deadlines
Returns are due on the same schedule every year. Missing one draws the late-filing penalty above.
Licensing rules, records, and penalties
Which vehicles the licence covers, how long it runs, what Indiana can ask you to post or produce, and what a late or wrong return costs. Each one is sourced.
- Qualified motor vehicle: Test
- A qualified vehicle is one that travels in Indiana and at least one other jurisdiction to transport persons or property and has two axles with a gross vehicle weight or registered weight in excess of 26,000 pounds, or three axles or more regardless of weight, or is used in combination where the combined gross vehicle weight or combined registered weight exceeds 26,000 pounds.
- Qualified motor vehicle: Alternative fuel exception
- A carrier that does not cross state lines but operates a qualified vehicle running on alternative fuel completes Form MCFT-1A for intrastate fuel tax registration and reporting instead.
- Application: Methods
- Scan or fax the signed application with a credit card authorization form to [email protected] or fax 317-615-7333, or mail it with a $25 check payable to the Indiana Department of Revenue to Motor Carrier Services, IFTA / MCFT Section, 7811 Milhouse Road, Suite M, Indianapolis, IN 46241-9612.
- Application: Appointment
- A new IFTA account is opened by appointment with Motor Carrier Services or by email at [email protected]. Appointments are scheduled online or by calling 317-615-7200 and are limited to one person or one account each.
- Application: Requirements
- The application asks for the FEIN, the owner, partner or officer Social Security numbers, the Indiana taxpayer identification number if already established, the IRP account number if already established, the USDOT number if already established, the number of qualified vehicles needing decals, the fuel types consumed, and whether the entity keeps bulk fuel storage tanks and in which jurisdictions.
- Application: Power of attorney
- If the contact person is an authorized agent rather than an owner, partner or responsible officer, a completed Form POA-1 must be enclosed.
- Application: Documents
- The document checklist differs by whether the business address is commercial or residential property and by entity type (sole proprietorship, single or multi-member LLC, corporation, partnership).
- Credentials: Summary
- Processing produces one set of decals for each qualified vehicle and one IFTA license cab card for the company. The carrier photocopies the cab card for each qualified vehicle, keeps the original on file, and keeps a copy in the cab of each vehicle at all times.
- Credentials: Closure
- Closing an IFTA account requires Form OSS-1, the return of all assigned decals and licenses, and the filing of the last quarterly tax return even if it shows zero activity. Failing to return the decals means quarterly returns keep falling due to the end of the credential period, including the fourth quarter return due January 31 of the following year.
- Renewal
- Annual. A renewal application must be submitted for the next calendar-year compliance decals and IFTA license cab card. Failing to renew in a timely manner may result in penalties or revocation fees.
- Penalties: Interest
- IC 6-6-4.1-22 charges interest on a failure to file, a failure to pay the full amount shown on the return by the due date, or a deficiency determined by the department, at the rate of interest calculated under the interest provisions of the International Fuel Tax Agreement.
- Penalties: Consequences
- Failure to submit a return on time may result in penalties, interest, IFTA license revocation, or assessments.
- Penalties: Amount basis
- Indiana fixes the penalty and interest by reference to the IFTA Articles of Agreement rather than stating a figure in the Indiana Code, so no dollar amount or percentage is recorded here.
- Bond requirement: Rule
- IC 6-6-4.1-8 provides for a bond, letter of credit or cash deposit and for release from liability, and IC 6-6-4.1-14.5 lists determining whether bonding is required among the matters the International Fuel Tax Agreement covers. Neither Form IFTA-1A nor the Department of Revenue's IFTA pages state a standing bond requirement for a first-time Indiana applicant, so none is recorded.
Which license you need
The dividing line is the state border. Travel in Indiana plus at least one other member jurisdiction puts you under the interstate agreement. Operating only inside Indiana puts you under the intrastate Motor Carrier Fuel Tax, on its own application form, with its own annual permit, cab card and decals.
A mixed fleet does not get to split. A fleet holding both apportioned-plated vehicles that leave the state and Indiana base-plated vehicles that do not is licensed entirely under the interstate agreement.
Qualification turns on axles and weight. A qualified vehicle carries persons or property and either has a set number of axles regardless of weight, or exceeds a published gross or registered weight, alone or in combination. A carrier that stays inside Indiana but runs alternative fuel takes the intrastate form instead.
How to apply and what it costs
The application is Form IFTA-1A. It can be scanned or faxed with a credit card authorization, or mailed with a check, and a new account is opened by appointment with Motor Carrier Services or by email. Appointments cover one person or one account each.
Base jurisdiction is the first hurdle. Indiana is your base if your qualified vehicles are registered here, you have an established place of business here from which operations are performed, and your operational control and records live here or can be produced here. Most owner-operators, sole proprietors and new Indiana businesses qualify through residency instead, which is the practical route when a business is too new to prove a place of business.
The application asks for tax identifiers, any existing apportioned and USDOT numbers, the count of qualified vehicles needing decals, the fuel types you run and whether you keep bulk storage. The application fee and the document checklist render as sourced fields, and the checklist differs by whether your business address is commercial or residential and by entity type.
Filing cadence, portal and penalties
Returns are quarterly, due at the end of the month following each quarter. Filing is online: motor carriers must manage fuel tax, intrastate fuel tax and proportional use credit transactions in the department's Fuel Tax System, including paying returns, renewing and ordering additional decals, unless they hold a current online exemption.
A quarter with no miles still needs a return. As long as you hold a license and issued decals, the return is due showing zero miles and zero gallons.
Penalties and interest are set by reference rather than by figure. Indiana charges both by pointing at the agreement's own penalty and interest provisions, so no Indiana dollar amount or percentage exists to record. Missing returns can also cost you the license.
Credentials, renewal and closing the account
Processing produces one set of decals for each qualified vehicle and one license cab card for the company. Photocopy the cab card for each vehicle, keep the original on file and keep a copy in every cab.
Renewal is annual, for the next calendar year's decals and cab card, and letting it slip can bring penalties or revocation charges.
Closing an account is the step carriers forget. It takes a closure form, the return of every assigned decal and license, and the final quarterly return even when it shows no activity. Leaving decals out in the world keeps quarterly returns falling due through the end of the credential period.
Two Indiana extras: trip permits and the proportional use credit
A carrier can buy a trip permit instead of paying the tax a particular vehicle's operation would otherwise generate. It authorizes operation for a fixed run of consecutive days, with the start and end printed on its face, and the quarterly report is not required for a vehicle covered by one. A separate repair and maintenance permit lets a carrier come into Indiana to fix its equipment and return home, at an annual charge covering all of its vehicles.
Indiana also refunds part of the fuel tax where fuel powers equipment rather than moving the truck. Certification runs on a dedicated form and claims are filed online. Filing the quarterly returns with payment is a precondition, and missing them denies the claim.
The tax rates live in the quarterly matrix
IFTA rates change every quarter, so we keep them in one refreshed store instead of copying them onto every state page. The current quarter is 3Q 2026. Use the IFTA rates by state table for the full matrix, or the IFTA calculator to run your miles and gallons against the current rates.
For the registration-to-return process in order, follow the Indiana IFTA filing walkthrough.
What pairs with IFTA
IFTA and IRP travel together: the same interstate operation that needs a fuel tax license usually needs apportioned plates through Indiana IRP. If you are still setting up, the full order of operations is in start a trucking company in Indiana.
Frequently asked questions
Who administers IFTA in Indiana?
- The Department of Revenue's Motor Carrier Services division, from the same office that handles apportioned registration and intrastate authority. There is no separate tax agency to deal with, and no Bureau of Motor Vehicles involvement in fuel tax.
Do I need IFTA if I only run inside Indiana?
- No, you need the other license. A carrier whose commercial vehicles never leave Indiana registers for the intrastate Motor Carrier Fuel Tax on its own application form, with an annual permit, cab card and decals. Decals are required only for vehicles running certain alternative fuels.
How do I apply for an Indiana IFTA license?
- File Form IFTA-1A with Motor Carrier Services, by scan, fax or mail with payment, and open the account by appointment or by email. You must either hold a qualifying established place of business in Indiana or reside here, and the document checklist changes with your entity type and address.
When are Indiana IFTA returns due?
- Quarterly, at the end of the month following the close of each calendar quarter, filed electronically in the department's Fuel Tax System. A quarter with no operations still needs a return showing zeros, and a late or missing return draws penalty and interest set by the agreement's own provisions.
What does an Indiana IFTA license cost?
- There is a published application fee, paid with the application, and it opens either the interstate or the intrastate account. Indiana publishes no separate decal charge; one set of decals per qualified vehicle comes with processing, and more can be requested during the year.
Haul Handbook publishes educational information about trucking registration and compliance requirements. This is not legal, financial, or tax advice. Rules, fees, and deadlines change; confirm with the agency before you file or pay.