By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 27, 2026
South Dakota is an IFTA member jurisdiction and the Department of Revenue Motor Carrier Services section in Pierre is the one-stop office for both IRP and IFTA. The annual IFTA license costs 10 dollars, decal sets cost 1.50 dollars each plus 1.00 dollar per set for mailing (the Department sells them at 2.50 dollars per set), applications go through the Motor Carrier Connect online system, and quarterly returns are due by the last day of the month following each quarter and must be filed and paid electronically.
South Dakota IFTA administration
- Agency
- South Dakota Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division, Motor Carrier Services (Motor Fuel Section)
- License fee
- $10 (SDCL 10-47B-173 sets a 10 dollar fee for the initial interstate fuel user license and 10 dollars for each annual renewal; the Department of Revenue page states the IFTA annual license is 10 dollars.)
- Decal fee
- $1.50 (SDCL 10-47B-173 sets 1.50 dollars per vehicle for each set of decals plus 1.00 dollar to mail each set; the Department of Revenue Motor Carrier Services page sells annual decal sets at 2.50 dollars, matching the statute's decal plus mailing components together.)
- Application
- Apply for Motor Carrier Account plus the South Dakota IRP/IFTA Combined Application and the IFTA Agreement to Maintain Records (and Power of Attorney if applicable)
- Application: methods
- Online at https://sd.motorcarrierconnect.com, or by mail to the Department of Revenue, IFTA, 445 East Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501-3185.
- Application: requirements
- South Dakota must be the base jurisdiction, correct license and decal fees must be paid, a bond posted if required, and Unified Carrier Registration fees paid. Approval takes about 10 days, after which the license can be printed and decals mail the next business day.
- Application: email
- [email protected]
- Filing frequency
- Quarterly. Returns are due by midnight on the last day of the month following the close of each quarter (April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31), shifted to the next business day when the date falls on a Sunday or legal holiday. Filing and payment must be done electronically. A return is required every quarter even with no taxable miles or all-South Dakota travel. Licensees with under 5,000 out-of-state miles in a calendar year and one year of filing history may petition to file annually instead.
- Base jurisdiction: summary
- Carriers may license through South Dakota if they are South Dakota based interstate motor carriers, keep operational control and records for their vehicles in South Dakota or can make the records available here, and operate IFTA qualified motor vehicles other than recreational vehicles. The Department must determine South Dakota is the base jurisdiction before a license issues.
- Base jurisdiction: qualified motor vehicle
- Vehicles with two axles and a gross weight or registered gross vehicle weight exceeding 26,000 pounds, with three or more axles regardless of weight, or used in combination when the combination weight exceeds 26,000 pounds. Recreational vehicles are excluded.
- Late-filing penalty
- No fixed dollar late fee is published. Failure to file brings a nonfiler notice, and after 30 days a jeopardy assessment estimated without credit for tax-paid purchases, with 60 days to file, pay, or request a hearing; the license is suspended at that time. Unsatisfied assessments can bring a tax lien and, after 30 more days, a distress warrant.
- Penalty: criminal
- Failing to pay tax within 60 days, failing to file within 60 days, or failing to keep or exhibit required records is a Class 1 misdemeanor; repeated filing or payment failures within twelve months, fraudulent returns, and operating after revocation are Class 6 felonies; operating without carrying fuel use tax credentials is a Class 2 misdemeanor (SDCL 10-47B-187).
More South Dakota IFTA rules
- Filing portal: detail
- The IFTA account lives in the Department of Revenue's Motor Carrier Connect system end to end. The 2025 IFTA Manual directs carriers to apply online there, renew there each October when the system sends the renewal notice, order additional decals there, and pay an audit assessment there; a certificate of assessment gives the licensee 60 days to pay online there, interest included, or to request a hearing in writing, which is the only route to contest an audit assessment. The manual's Online Resources list names the same address as IFTA Online Filing, and its IFTA Returns section requires filing and payment to be done electronically and says the division sends a system email at least 30 days before each due date; failing to receive that email does not relieve the licensee of filing on time. The Motor Carrier Services page separately states returns may be filed through SD Interstate Online (https://interstateonline.sd.gov), language that page has carried since electronic filing became required in July 2020. A net credit of 25 dollars or more on a return is refunded before the end of the next reporting period; a smaller credit is held or applied forward until it reaches that amount, and refunds are withheld while any liability is outstanding.
- Qualified motor vehicle
- Two axles and a gross or registered gross weight over 26,000 pounds, three or more axles regardless of weight, or use in combination when the combination exceeds 26,000 pounds gross.
- License period
- The license runs on the calendar year; renewal notices go out each October and licensees order decals for the next calendar year.
- Credentials
- One license is issued per licensee; the carrier copies it and carries a copy in each qualified vehicle (a photocopy is acceptable in South Dakota). Numbered decal sets go on the lower rear exterior sides of each cab. Failure to carry the license or display decals can force purchase of a fuel permit and bring citations and fines.
- Renewal
- Each October the online system automatically sends every license holder a renewal notice, and the licensee renews and orders decals for the next calendar year. The license will not be renewed if the carrier is delinquent in filing returns, owes taxes, or reports or travels only in South Dakota or files zero-distance returns.
- Bond requirement
- In most cases a surety bond is not required when applying; the secretary may require acceptable security of any applicant delinquent in filing tax reports or paying fuel tax.
- Recordkeeping
- Operational records must be maintained and fuel receipts and invoices retained; unused decal sets must be kept for audit for four years, and the Department provides a decal inventory sheet for tracking.
- Grace period
- IFTA allows a grace period through the last day of February each year, so a first quarter return must be filed unless a written cancellation letter was submitted to end the license at the close of a tax year.
- Trip permit: summary
- An interstate fuel user without a valid IFTA license must buy a temporary single-trip permit from the Department or its agents before entering South Dakota. The permit costs 20 dollars, covers one trip into or through the state, expires when the vehicle leaves, does not allow tax-unpaid fuel purchases from any in-state source, and is in lieu of all other fuel permit fees (SDCL 10-47B-175).
Licensing rules, records, and penalties
Which vehicles the licence covers, how long it runs, what South Dakota can ask you to post or produce, and what a late or wrong return costs. Each one is sourced.
- Qualified motor vehicle
- Two axles and a gross or registered gross weight over 26,000 pounds, three or more axles regardless of weight, or use in combination when the combination exceeds 26,000 pounds gross.
- Application: Form
- Apply for Motor Carrier Account plus the South Dakota IRP/IFTA Combined Application and the IFTA Agreement to Maintain Records (and Power of Attorney if applicable)
- Application: Methods
- Online at https://sd.motorcarrierconnect.com, or by mail to the Department of Revenue, IFTA, 445 East Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501-3185.
- Application: Requirements
- South Dakota must be the base jurisdiction, correct license and decal fees must be paid, a bond posted if required, and Unified Carrier Registration fees paid. Approval takes about 10 days, after which the license can be printed and decals mail the next business day.
- Application: Email
- [email protected]
- License period
- The license runs on the calendar year; renewal notices go out each October and licensees order decals for the next calendar year.
- Credentials
- One license is issued per licensee; the carrier copies it and carries a copy in each qualified vehicle (a photocopy is acceptable in South Dakota). Numbered decal sets go on the lower rear exterior sides of each cab. Failure to carry the license or display decals can force purchase of a fuel permit and bring citations and fines.
- Renewal
- Each October the online system automatically sends every license holder a renewal notice, and the licensee renews and orders decals for the next calendar year. The license will not be renewed if the carrier is delinquent in filing returns, owes taxes, or reports or travels only in South Dakota or files zero-distance returns.
- Penalties: Criminal
- Failing to pay tax within 60 days, failing to file within 60 days, or failing to keep or exhibit required records is a Class 1 misdemeanor; repeated filing or payment failures within twelve months, fraudulent returns, and operating after revocation are Class 6 felonies; operating without carrying fuel use tax credentials is a Class 2 misdemeanor (SDCL 10-47B-187).
- Penalties: Dyed fuel
- Operating on dyed special fuel draws a 500 dollar penalty for IFTA qualified vehicles and 250 dollars for unqualified vehicles, plus possible federal penalty.
- Bond requirement
- In most cases a surety bond is not required when applying; the secretary may require acceptable security of any applicant delinquent in filing tax reports or paying fuel tax.
Who licenses for IFTA in South Dakota
South Dakota licenses carriers that are South Dakota based interstate motor carriers, keep operational control and records in the state or can make them available here, and operate qualified motor vehicles other than recreational ones. The Department must determine South Dakota is the base jurisdiction before a license issues.
Qualified follows the standard test: two axles over the gross weight line, three or more axles regardless of weight, or combination use above that line. Recreational vehicles are excluded.
How to apply
The application is the combined IRP/IFTA packet: the Motor Carrier Account application, the combined IRP/IFTA application, the agreement to maintain records, and a power of attorney where one applies. It goes online through Motor Carrier Connect or by mail to the Pierre office.
Approval takes about ten days, after which the license prints and decal sets mail the next business day. The state must be the base jurisdiction, the license and decal fees must be paid, a bond posts only where required, and Unified Carrier Registration fees must be paid. A bond is generally not asked of first-time applicants who are current.
Filing cadence and the annual option
Returns run quarterly, due by midnight on the last day of the month after each quarter closes, shifted to the next business day when the date lands on a Sunday or legal holiday, and both filing and payment are electronic. A return is required every quarter even with no taxable miles or all-South Dakota travel.
Small interstate fleets get a break: a licensee whose out-of-state distance stays under a set annual line, with a year of filing history behind it, may petition to file annually instead. The license itself runs on the calendar year, renewal notices go out each October, and a grace period runs through the last day of February.
Penalties and when the license will not renew
No fixed late fee is published. Instead the ladder climbs: a nonfiler notice, then after thirty days a jeopardy assessment estimated without credit for tax-paid purchases, with sixty days to file, pay, or request a hearing, and the license suspends at that point. Unsatisfied assessments can bring a tax lien and then a distress warrant.
The criminal side prices failures to pay or file within sixty days as misdemeanors, escalates repeated failures and fraud to felonies, and treats operating without fuel credentials as a misdemeanor. Dyed fuel draws its own penalties. Renewal is refused when a carrier is delinquent, owes taxes, or reports travel only in South Dakota.
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, effective Jul 1, 2026 through Sep 30, 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 South Dakota 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 South Dakota IRP. If you are still setting up, the full order of operations is in start a trucking company in South Dakota.