By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Aug 5, 2026
Louisiana IFTA is administered by the Department of Revenue rather than by the Office of Motor Vehicles, which runs IRP, so a Louisiana carrier opens two accounts with two agencies. The IFTA license costs $35.00 once, decals are $1.00 each and two are required per qualified vehicle, and renewal of the license itself is free. Returns are quarterly through LaTAP, due the last day of the month after the quarter closes, and a return is required even in a quarter with no travel and no fuel purchases.
Louisiana IFTA administration
- License fee
- $35 (A one-time $35.00 initial license fee, paid with the paper Form R-5678-L application or electronically through LaTAP after the account number is issued. There is no cost for a renewal license. A previously closed account can be reactivated without paying the $35.00 again, but only if it has been closed for less than one year, the corporate structure has not changed, and the previous license was not revoked. A reinstatement after revocation is $35.00, and a carrier required to post a bond after a compliance problem must remit the $35.00 initial license fee again on top of the bond and any outstanding liabilities.)
- Decal fee
- $2 ($1.00 per decal, and two decals are required for each qualified motor vehicle, so the cost is $2.00 per vehicle per year. The Department states the same figure as $2.00 per set for additional sets ordered during the license year and for sets ordered on the annual renewal application. One decal goes on the lower rear exterior of the passenger side and one on the driver side of the power unit. Decals may not be transferred from one company to another, and when a lease ends the party responsible for reporting and paying the tax is responsible for removing them.)
- Application
- Form R-5678-L, International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) Application; Form R-5679, IFTA Decal Request Form, for additional decals
- Application: methods
- Register online through the Department's business registration application at revenue.louisiana.gov, then use LaTAP to submit the IFTA application, pay the license fee, order and pay for decals, and file the quarterly returns. A carrier may instead request the paper Form R-5678-L and mail it with the $35.00 fee to Louisiana Department of Revenue, Taxpayer Services Division, Excise Section, P.O. Box 201, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0201.
- Application: requirements
- The application asks for legal and trade name and address, the federal ID or Social Security number, type of ownership, the ICC motor carrier number and the IRP account number, corporate details including state and date of incorporation and the date the applicant was authorized to do business in Louisiana, the names and Social Security numbers of owners, partners or officers, the fuel types used, and every jurisdiction the carrier operates in or stores bulk fuel in. It also asks whether the applicant has ever been licensed for IFTA anywhere, under any other name, and whether that license was ever suspended or revoked. A carrier using a reporting service must attach a properly executed power of attorney and stays responsible for the tax and for the service's acts and omissions.
- Application: phone
- (225) 219-7656 for the Excise Tax Section, or (225) 219-2520 for the Baton Rouge main office that issues licenses and decals
- Filing frequency
- Quarterly. Every licensee files an IFTA quarterly tax report with the Department, and a report is required even if the licensee did not operate in any member jurisdiction or buy any taxable fuel that quarter. After filing four quarterly reports a licensee whose operations total less than 5,000 miles or 8,000 kilometres a year in every member jurisdiction except Louisiana may ask in writing for annual filing status; a new licensee is not eligible, and any member jurisdiction's objection denies it.
- Base jurisdiction: summary
- Louisiana is the base jurisdiction for IFTA licensing and reporting when the carrier's qualified motor vehicles are registered in Louisiana, the carrier has an established place of business in Louisiana from which motor carrier operations are performed, the operational control and operational records for the qualified motor vehicles are kept in Louisiana or can be made available there, and the qualified motor vehicles actually travel on Louisiana highways.
- Base jurisdiction: qualified motor vehicle
- A motor vehicle used, designed or maintained to transport persons or property that has two axles and a gross vehicle weight or registered gross vehicle weight over 26,000 pounds, or three or more axles regardless of weight, or is used in combination when the combination weight exceeds 26,000 pounds gross or registered gross vehicle weight. Recreational vehicles used exclusively for personal pleasure and not in connection with any business are excluded.
- Base jurisdiction: lease rule
- Every qualified motor vehicle leased to a carrier is subject to IFTA the same way an owned vehicle is. A lessor regularly in the business of leasing or renting vehicles without drivers may be treated as the licensee and issued its own license. On long-term leases over thirty days the lessor and lessee choose which of them reports and pays, and the base jurisdiction follows the party that assumes responsibility. On leases of thirty days or less the fuel use permit holder is liable. For a household goods carrier using independent contractors, agents or service representatives under intermittent leases, the party liable is the lessee when the vehicle runs under the lessee's operating authority and the lessor when it runs under the lessor's. No member jurisdiction requires the leases to be filed, but they must be produced on request.
- Base jurisdiction: account number
- A Louisiana IFTA identification number is the prefix LA followed by the licensee's nine-digit federal employer identification number, or a Social Security number where no FEIN exists. Each account also gets a Louisiana Department of Revenue account number.
- Base jurisdiction: alternative to licensing
- A carrier that qualifies for IFTA but does not want to participate must buy trip permits to travel through member jurisdictions under each jurisdiction's own rules.
- Late-filing penalty
- Filing late draws a delinquent penalty of 5 percent of the tax due if the delinquency is 30 days or less, plus another 5 percent for each additional 30 days or fraction, capped at 25 percent of the original tax due.
- Penalty: failure to pay
- Filing on time but paying short draws a late payment penalty of 5 percent of the unremitted tax for 30 days or less, plus 5 percent for each additional 30 days or fraction, imposed for no more than five 30-day periods per return. It applies for any 30-day period in which a delinquent penalty is also due.
- Penalty: interest
- Jurisdictional interest runs from the due date until the tax is paid at the rate set in IFTA Articles of Agreement R1230, published under Manuals at iftach.org. The interest cannot be waived.
- Penalty: negligence
- A negligence penalty of 5 percent of the tax or deficiency, or $10.00, whichever is greater, may be imposed where a licensee fails to file or files an incorrect return in circumstances showing negligence or disregard of the rules but no intent to defraud. A returned check draws 1 percent of the check amount or $20.00, whichever is greater.
More Louisiana IFTA rules
- Filing portal: detail
- LaTAP is the Department of Revenue's taxpayer portal. It handles the IFTA application, the license fee payment, decal orders and payment, the quarterly return, and the annual renewal. A postal cancellation mark is accepted as the filing date for a mailed return; an electronic return is filed the date it is transmitted.
- Credentials: license period
- The IFTA license and the decals are valid for the calendar year, January 1 through December 31.
- Credentials: in cab
- A photocopy of the license card must be kept in the cab of every qualified motor vehicle. Operating without it can draw citations or fines from the Department of Public Safety Weights and Standards Division.
- Credentials: display window
- Renewal credentials may be displayed one month before the effective date. If the licensee displays them before January 1, the current-year license card must stay in the vehicle until January 1. A 60-day grace period runs to the last day of February each year for distributing and affixing decals, and only decal orders placed by December 31 qualify. From March 1 fines are assessed on vehicles operating without current-year credentials.
- Renewal
- The Department issues pre-printed IFTA license renewal applications to every licensee each year, and the renewal can instead be done through LaTAP. The renewal license itself is free; decals are $2.00 per set ordered on the renewal application. Renewal may be denied if the Department determines the licensee has failed to file a report or failed to remit money due to a member jurisdiction.
- Recordkeeping: detail
- Records supporting the quarterly returns must be kept for four years from the due date of the return or the date it was filed, whichever is later, and produced on request by any member jurisdiction. Distance records cover the date of trip, highway used, jurisdiction name, beginning and ending odometer readings, jurisdiction miles, gallons received, vendor name, and origin and destination. Fuel records are kept separately by fuel type and cover the date of purchase, seller name and address, gallons placed in the vehicle, fuel type, price per gallon or litre, vehicle unit number, and purchaser signature. Where no fuel receipt exists for taxable fuel used in a period, usage is estimated at 4 miles per gallon. Bulk fuel credit requires the withdrawal date, gallons withdrawn, fuel type, receiving unit number, and purchase and inventory records proving the tax was paid. Records should be kept in Louisiana; if they are not kept or made available there, the auditor's expenses are billed to the licensee.
- Audit: detail
- The Department audits an average of at least 3 percent of its IFTA licensees a year, on behalf of every member jurisdiction, and any Louisiana licensee may be selected at random. An auditor calls at least 30 days before the audit to set a date and follows up in writing with the periods and record requirements. The licensee has 30 days after the audit report to pay or file a protest, and 30 days from a final notice to request a hearing on any member jurisdiction's finding, after which the finding is final. Another member jurisdiction may re-audit at its own expense after showing reasonable cause.
- Cancellation: detail
- A licensee may cancel by checking the cancellation box on the final quarterly return or by written request, once all reporting requirements and tax liabilities to every member jurisdiction are satisfied. The original license and all unused decals go back to the Department. Any member jurisdiction may run a final audit, and the four-year retention period runs from the due date of the final return. The Department notifies the Louisiana State Police and every member jurisdiction when a license is suspended, revoked, or released.
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 Louisiana can ask you to post or produce, and what a late or wrong return costs. Each one is sourced.
- Application: Form
- Form R-5678-L, International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) Application; Form R-5679, IFTA Decal Request Form, for additional decals
- Application: Methods
- Register online through the Department's business registration application at revenue.louisiana.gov, then use LaTAP to submit the IFTA application, pay the license fee, order and pay for decals, and file the quarterly returns. A carrier may instead request the paper Form R-5678-L and mail it with the $35.00 fee to Louisiana Department of Revenue, Taxpayer Services Division, Excise Section, P.O. Box 201, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0201.
- Application: Requirements
- The application asks for legal and trade name and address, the federal ID or Social Security number, type of ownership, the ICC motor carrier number and the IRP account number, corporate details including state and date of incorporation and the date the applicant was authorized to do business in Louisiana, the names and Social Security numbers of owners, partners or officers, the fuel types used, and every jurisdiction the carrier operates in or stores bulk fuel in. It also asks whether the applicant has ever been licensed for IFTA anywhere, under any other name, and whether that license was ever suspended or revoked. A carrier using a reporting service must attach a properly executed power of attorney and stays responsible for the tax and for the service's acts and omissions.
- Application: Phone
- (225) 219-7656 for the Excise Tax Section, or (225) 219-2520 for the Baton Rouge main office that issues licenses and decals
- Credentials: License period
- The IFTA license and the decals are valid for the calendar year, January 1 through December 31.
- Credentials: In cab
- A photocopy of the license card must be kept in the cab of every qualified motor vehicle. Operating without it can draw citations or fines from the Department of Public Safety Weights and Standards Division.
- Credentials: Display window
- Renewal credentials may be displayed one month before the effective date. If the licensee displays them before January 1, the current-year license card must stay in the vehicle until January 1. A 60-day grace period runs to the last day of February each year for distributing and affixing decals, and only decal orders placed by December 31 qualify. From March 1 fines are assessed on vehicles operating without current-year credentials.
- Renewal
- The Department issues pre-printed IFTA license renewal applications to every licensee each year, and the renewal can instead be done through LaTAP. The renewal license itself is free; decals are $2.00 per set ordered on the renewal application. Renewal may be denied if the Department determines the licensee has failed to file a report or failed to remit money due to a member jurisdiction.
- Penalties: Failure to pay
- Filing on time but paying short draws a late payment penalty of 5 percent of the unremitted tax for 30 days or less, plus 5 percent for each additional 30 days or fraction, imposed for no more than five 30-day periods per return. It applies for any 30-day period in which a delinquent penalty is also due.
- Penalties: Interest
- Jurisdictional interest runs from the due date until the tax is paid at the rate set in IFTA Articles of Agreement R1230, published under Manuals at iftach.org. The interest cannot be waived.
- Penalties: Negligence
- A negligence penalty of 5 percent of the tax or deficiency, or $10.00, whichever is greater, may be imposed where a licensee fails to file or files an incorrect return in circumstances showing negligence or disregard of the rules but no intent to defraud. A returned check draws 1 percent of the check amount or $20.00, whichever is greater.
- Penalties: Recordkeeping
- Failure to keep the required records may cause revocation of the license, and the Department may impose a penalty of 100 percent of the tax due on an assessment calculated from the best information available.
- Recordkeeping: Detail
- Records supporting the quarterly returns must be kept for four years from the due date of the return or the date it was filed, whichever is later, and produced on request by any member jurisdiction. Distance records cover the date of trip, highway used, jurisdiction name, beginning and ending odometer readings, jurisdiction miles, gallons received, vendor name, and origin and destination. Fuel records are kept separately by fuel type and cover the date of purchase, seller name and address, gallons placed in the vehicle, fuel type, price per gallon or litre, vehicle unit number, and purchaser signature. Where no fuel receipt exists for taxable fuel used in a period, usage is estimated at 4 miles per gallon. Bulk fuel credit requires the withdrawal date, gallons withdrawn, fuel type, receiving unit number, and purchase and inventory records proving the tax was paid. Records should be kept in Louisiana; if they are not kept or made available there, the auditor's expenses are billed to the licensee.
Who licenses for IFTA in Louisiana
Louisiana joined the agreement at the start of 1994. It becomes your base jurisdiction when your qualified vehicles are registered here, you keep an established place of business here from which motor carrier operations are performed, your operational control and records live here or can be made available here, and the vehicles actually run on Louisiana highways.
Qualified means the vehicle passes the axle and weight test the Department publishes, alone or in combination, and recreational vehicles used purely for personal pleasure are excluded. Leased operations follow the lease: a lessor regularly in the rental business may hold the license itself, a long-term lease lets the parties choose who reports, and on a short lease the fuel use permit holder is liable. A household goods carrier running independent contractors follows whose authority the vehicle operates under.
A carrier that qualifies but does not want to participate has to buy trip permits under each member jurisdiction's own rules instead.
How to apply, and what it costs to enter
Register your business with the Department first, then file the IFTA application through LaTAP, or request the paper form and mail it with the license fee to the Excise Section in Baton Rouge. The application asks for legal and trade names, federal identifiers, ownership type, your motor carrier and IRP account numbers, your USDOT number, corporate details, the fuel types you burn, and every jurisdiction you operate in or store bulk fuel in. It also asks whether you have ever held an IFTA license anywhere under any name, and whether it was ever suspended or revoked.
Entry cost is small and easy to plan: a one-time license fee plus a pair of decals per qualified vehicle. Renewal drops the license fee entirely and leaves only the decals. A previously closed account can be reactivated without paying the license fee again, provided it has been closed under a year, the corporate structure has not changed, and the license was never revoked.
Louisiana does not generally ask a first-time applicant for a bond. The Department may require one later after late filing, unpaid tax, or an audit finding it judges severe enough to protect the other member jurisdictions. A carrier using a reporting service attaches a power of attorney and stays responsible for the tax and for the service's acts.
Filing, records and audits
Returns are quarterly, due the last day of the month after each quarter closes, and a return is required even when the licensee did not operate in any member jurisdiction or buy any taxable fuel. After four quarters, a licensee whose operations stay under a published annual distance in every member jurisdiction other than Louisiana may ask in writing for annual filing status; a new licensee cannot, and any member jurisdiction's objection ends it.
Late filing draws a delinquent penalty that steps up in thirty-day blocks to a published ceiling, and paying short on a timely return draws its own late payment penalty. Interest runs from the due date at the rate the agreement's articles set and cannot be waived. Filing an incorrect return in circumstances showing negligence draws a further penalty, and failing to keep records can cost the license outright plus an assessment built from the best information available.
Records run four years from the return's due date or filing date, whichever is later. Distance records cover the trip date, highways used, jurisdiction, beginning and ending odometer readings, jurisdiction miles, gallons received, vendor and route. Fuel records are kept by fuel type. Keep them in Louisiana; if an auditor has to travel to them, the expenses are billed to you.
Credentials, the grace period and renewal
The license and decals run the calendar year. A photocopy of the license card stays in the cab of every qualified vehicle, and operating without it can draw citations or fines from the Weights and Standards Division. One decal goes on the lower rear exterior of each side of the power unit, decals may not move between companies, and when a lease ends the party responsible for reporting removes them.
Renewal credentials may be displayed a month before they take effect, with the current-year card staying in the vehicle until the year turns. A grace period runs into the end of February for distributing and affixing decals, and only orders placed by the end of December qualify for it. From the start of March, fines are assessed on vehicles running without current-year credentials.
The Department mails pre-printed renewal applications each year, and the renewal can be done in LaTAP instead. Renewal may be denied where the Department finds the licensee failed to file a report or failed to remit money due to a member jurisdiction.
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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana IRP. If you are still setting up, the full order of operations is in start a trucking company in Louisiana.
Frequently asked questions
Who administers IFTA in Louisiana?
- The Department of Revenue Excise Tax Section, through the LaTAP portal. The Office of Motor Vehicles runs apportioned plates and the Department of Transportation and Development runs permits, so the fuel tax license, decals and quarterly returns sit with a separate agency and a separate login.
Do I need IFTA if I only run inside Louisiana?
- No. The license exists for a Louisiana-based carrier operating qualified vehicles in Louisiana and at least one other member jurisdiction. A truck that never leaves the state has nothing to apportion, though a Louisiana-domiciled vehicle using taxable special fuels still licenses for special fuels and carries current invoices.
What does a Louisiana IFTA license cost?
- A one-time license fee plus decals, with two decals required for each qualified vehicle. Renewal costs only the decals, because the renewal license itself is free. The sourced amounts sit on this page beside the fields they come from.
When are Louisiana IFTA returns due?
- The last day of the month after each calendar quarter closes, so late April, late July, late October and the end of January. A return is required even in a quarter with no travel and no taxable fuel purchases. Late filing and short payment each carry their own stepped penalty plus interest that cannot be waived.
How long do I have to keep Louisiana IFTA records?
- Four years from the due date of the return or the date you filed it, whichever is later, and any member jurisdiction can ask to see them. The Department audits an average of at least a published share of its licensees each year on behalf of every member jurisdiction, and any Louisiana licensee can be selected at random.
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.