By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Aug 9, 2026
Washington is an IFTA jurisdiction and the licence is run by the Department of Licensing, not by a revenue department. The licence itself is free; what you pay for is decals, at $10 a set of two per qualified vehicle per calendar year. Returns are quarterly and due the last day of the month after each quarter, and you file even in a quarter where you never left the state or owe nothing.
Washington IFTA administration
- Agency
- Washington State Department of Licensing, Prorate and Fuel Tax Services, Motor Carrier Services unit
- License fee
- $0 (The Department of Licensing fee table states the Washington IFTA licence carries no fee and is issued with each paid set of decals. This is a published zero, not an unconfirmed figure.)
- Decal fee
- $10 ($10 per set of two decals, one set for each qualified motor vehicle, applied for every year. One decal goes on each side of the vehicle.)
- Application
- International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) Application, filed together with an International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) Decal Application and payment for the decals
- Application: methods
- Apply online through License Express for prorate and fuel tax, mail the completed IFTA Application and Decal Application with payment to the address on the forms, or apply in person at a field prorate and fuel tax office.
- Application: requirements
- Be based in Washington with a physical Washington address; operate qualified vehicles in two or more jurisdictions; hold an active Unified Business Identifier number registered with the Secretary of State unless you are a sole proprietor; register with the Department of Revenue for a UBI if you are a sole proprietor, corporation or LLC; and hold a USDOT number from FMCSA.
- Filing frequency
- Quarterly. Every IFTA member files a return for each calendar quarter, even with no mileage to report (marked No operation), even if all travel was inside Washington, and even when no payment is due.
- Base jurisdiction: summary
- Washington is the base jurisdiction for a carrier based in Washington with a physical address in the state that operates qualified vehicles in two or more member jurisdictions. IFTA covers all the states and Canadian provinces except Alaska, Hawaii, Yukon and Northwest Territories.
- Base jurisdiction: single state carriers
- A Washington carrier that never leaves the state does not need the licence, but once it holds one it must still file a return for every quarter, including quarters where all its travel was inside Washington.
- Late-filing penalty
- A return filed or postmarked one or more days after the due date draws a penalty of $50 or 10 percent of the amount owed, whichever is greater. The penalty is due when the return is filed.
- Penalty: interest
- Interest is set annually by IFTA, Inc. at two percentage points above the IRS underpayment rate and accrues monthly at one twelfth of the annual rate. Washington separately charges 1 percent interest on the full amount owed as of the first of the month following the due date if the balance is unpaid.
More Washington IFTA rules
- Qualified motor vehicle
- A vehicle used, designed or maintained to carry property or people and either a commercial vehicle over 26,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, or a vehicle with three or more axles regardless of weight, or a combination whose total weight is over 26,000 pounds. Recreational vehicles are excluded.
- Filing portal: detail
- The online system files and amends returns, takes payments and electronic funds transfers, orders decals and manages IFTA, IRP, fuel tax and fuel tax refund permit accounts. The alternative is the pre-printed quarterly return the department mails to active account holders, which arrives barcoded and packaged with the current IFTA tax rate schedule, and goes back by mail or fax.
- Credentials: license period
- The IFTA licence and the decals are valid for the calendar year, January 1 to December 31.
- Credentials: display window
- The Department of Licensing's licence and decals page states that next year's decals may be displayed from November 1 of the current year. The department's own IFTA Membership packet says December 1 instead. The two published dates disagree, so a carrier displaying early in November should keep the current year credentials in the vehicle and confirm with the Motor Carrier Services unit.
- Credentials: renewal order
- Existing account holders are mailed a renewal decal application in the fourth quarter, and the third quarter return must be filed before next year's decals can be bought.
- Renewal
- Annual. The department mails an IFTA licence renewal and decal application during the fourth quarter; the carrier returns it with payment or orders decals through License Express. Replacement or additional decals are ordered the same way, or over the counter at a prorate and fuel tax office, though same-day service is not guaranteed.
- Cancellation: voluntary
- A licensee may cancel at any time, through License Express, by filing a final return marked Cancel license with an effective date, or by letter. The account must be paid in full and the final return accepted before the licence is cancelled.
- Cancellation: revocation
- The department revokes an IFTA licence for failing to file a quarterly report, for not paying fuel taxes, when the IRP registration is placed out of service by the federal Department of Transportation, or when the IRP or fuel tax account is revoked. The carrier gets an Intent to Revoke notice and 30 days to fix the problem. A revoked licence means no operating in any jurisdiction.
- Cancellation: reinstatement
- Reissuing a revoked or cancelled licence takes a new IFTA licence application, every outstanding return, payment of any IFTA or IRP balance, a $100 reinstatement fee for each revoked licence reissued, and current year decals. Processing can take up to two weeks.
- Recordkeeping: retention
- IFTA records are kept four years from the date the return was due or filed, whichever is later. Driver daily logs required by federal rule must be kept for the same four years where they are the only source documentation for the operations.
- Recordkeeping: detail
- The system must hold the carrier name, fleet number, operator equipment number or VIN, beginning and ending odometer or hub reading for each trip, start and end dates, origin and destination by city with every pick up, delivery and fueling location, routes of travel, mileage by state or province split into highway, non-highway and deadhead, total trip distance, and original fuel invoices showing date, customer and seller name, volumes, fuel type, tax paid and the OEN or VIN.
- Recordkeeping: consequences
- Missing or inadequate records can lead to audit adjustments to fuel consumption, tax-paid credits, jurisdictional distances or the money owed.
- Trip permit: name
- Washington special fuel trip permit, sold by WSDOT as the temporary fuel use permit
- Trip permit: detail
- A carrier without an IFTA licence can run on a special fuel trip permit, which WSDOT sells as the Temporary Fuel Use Permit on DOT Form 560-025. RCW 46.17.400(1) fixes that permit at $30.00 for three consecutive days, and the counters do not all quote the statutory figure: the Department of Licensing lists $33 each and WSDOT's own permit types page lists $25.00, so confirm the amount with the office selling it. WSDOT states plainly on the same form that IFTA is required for two axle vehicles over 26,000 pounds or three axle vehicles regardless of weight. Vehicle licensing is a separate permit: the three day vehicle trip permit is $25.00 under RCW 46.17.400(1), sold by the Department of Licensing at $36 because it adds an $11 service fee, and it covers up to 40,000 pounds of legal weight on a single vehicle or 80,000 pounds on a combination. The Washington trip and fuel permits page carries both permits in full, with their limits, their purchase channels and the same fee reconciliation.
- Filing notes: off road miles
- Off-road miles have to be reported on the Washington return for diesel vehicles. They are typically logging or farm road miles on roads closed to the public, and they are subject to Washington sales tax, from which an IFTA account holder is not exempt. Column C of the return holds both on-road and off-road miles; column D holds highway miles only.
- Filing notes: oregon
- Oregon miles and fuel are reported on the Washington return even though no fuel tax is due for Oregon travel, because Oregon collects a weight-distance tax instead.
- Filing notes: tolls
- Some jurisdictions treat tolled roads as tax paid. Those miles still go in the total miles column and the toll receipts are kept.
- Filing notes: fuel type codes
- Fuel types are abbreviated on the pre-printed return: DI for diesel, Gas for gasoline, LP for propane, GH for gasohol and NG for natural gas. Miles and volumes are entered as whole numbers and miles per volume is carried to two decimal places, calculated separately for each fuel type.
- Contact: phone
- 360-664-1858 for the prorate and fuel tax customer call line, open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday
- Contact: email
- [email protected]
- Contact: olympia office
- 405 Black Lake Boulevard SW, Building 2, Olympia, WA 98502-5046, appointments 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday
- Contact: vancouver office
- 1301 NE 136th Avenue, Vancouver, WA 98684-0864, appointments 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday
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 Washington can ask you to post or produce, and what a late or wrong return costs. Each one is sourced.
- Qualified motor vehicle
- A vehicle used, designed or maintained to carry property or people and either a commercial vehicle over 26,000 pounds gross vehicle weight, or a vehicle with three or more axles regardless of weight, or a combination whose total weight is over 26,000 pounds. Recreational vehicles are excluded.
- Application: Form
- International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) Application, filed together with an International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) Decal Application and payment for the decals
- Application: Methods
- Apply online through License Express for prorate and fuel tax, mail the completed IFTA Application and Decal Application with payment to the address on the forms, or apply in person at a field prorate and fuel tax office.
- Application: Requirements
- Be based in Washington with a physical Washington address; operate qualified vehicles in two or more jurisdictions; hold an active Unified Business Identifier number registered with the Secretary of State unless you are a sole proprietor; register with the Department of Revenue for a UBI if you are a sole proprietor, corporation or LLC; and hold a USDOT number from FMCSA.
- Credentials: License period
- The IFTA licence and the decals are valid for the calendar year, January 1 to December 31.
- Credentials: Display window
- The Department of Licensing's licence and decals page states that next year's decals may be displayed from November 1 of the current year. The department's own IFTA Membership packet says December 1 instead. The two published dates disagree, so a carrier displaying early in November should keep the current year credentials in the vehicle and confirm with the Motor Carrier Services unit.
- Credentials: Renewal order
- Existing account holders are mailed a renewal decal application in the fourth quarter, and the third quarter return must be filed before next year's decals can be bought.
- Renewal
- Annual. The department mails an IFTA licence renewal and decal application during the fourth quarter; the carrier returns it with payment or orders decals through License Express. Replacement or additional decals are ordered the same way, or over the counter at a prorate and fuel tax office, though same-day service is not guaranteed.
- Penalties: Interest
- Interest is set annually by IFTA, Inc. at two percentage points above the IRS underpayment rate and accrues monthly at one twelfth of the annual rate. Washington separately charges 1 percent interest on the full amount owed as of the first of the month following the due date if the balance is unpaid.
- Recordkeeping: Retention
- IFTA records are kept four years from the date the return was due or filed, whichever is later. Driver daily logs required by federal rule must be kept for the same four years where they are the only source documentation for the operations.
- Recordkeeping: Detail
- The system must hold the carrier name, fleet number, operator equipment number or VIN, beginning and ending odometer or hub reading for each trip, start and end dates, origin and destination by city with every pick up, delivery and fueling location, routes of travel, mileage by state or province split into highway, non-highway and deadhead, total trip distance, and original fuel invoices showing date, customer and seller name, volumes, fuel type, tax paid and the OEN or VIN.
Who licenses for IFTA in Washington
Washington is the base jurisdiction for a carrier based here with a physical Washington address that operates qualified vehicles in two or more member jurisdictions. Qualified means a commercial vehicle over the published gross weight line, or a vehicle with three or more axles whatever its weight, or a combination over the same weight line. Recreational vehicles are excluded.
A Washington carrier that never leaves the state does not need the licence. Once it holds one, though, it files a return for every quarter, including quarters where all its travel was inside Washington and quarters with nothing to report.
How to apply, and what the decals cost
The application and the decal application are filed together with payment for the decals. Apply online through License Express for prorate and fuel tax, mail the completed forms, or apply in person at a prorate and fuel tax office in Olympia or Vancouver. Washington asks for a physical Washington address, operation in two or more jurisdictions, an active Unified Business Identifier registered with the Secretary of State unless you are a sole proprietor, and a USDOT number.
The licence carries no fee, which the department publishes as a zero rather than leaving blank. Decals are sold per set of two per qualified vehicle, one on each side, and ordered again every year. Existing account holders are mailed a renewal decal application in the fourth quarter, and the third quarter return has to be filed before next year's decals can be bought.
Filing cadence and penalties
Returns are quarterly, due on the last day of the month following the end of each calendar quarter, and a return whose due date lands on a weekend or a Washington state holiday is postmarked the next business day. File online through License Express, or on the pre-printed barcoded return the department mails to active account holders, which arrives packaged with the current rate schedule.
A late return draws a penalty set as the greater of a flat amount or a share of the tax owed. Interest is set annually by IFTA, Inc. above the federal underpayment rate and accrues monthly, and Washington separately charges monthly interest on an unpaid balance.
Two Washington filing habits that catch carriers out
Off-road miles are reported and taxed. Washington makes IFTA licensees report off-road miles for diesel vehicles, typically logging or farm road miles on roads closed to the public, and those miles attract Washington sales tax that an IFTA account does not exempt you from. One column of the return carries both on-road and off-road miles while another carries highway miles only, which trips up carriers used to filing elsewhere.
Oregon miles go on the Washington return even though no fuel tax is due for Oregon travel, because Oregon collects a weight-distance tax instead. Kentucky, Indiana and Virginia each need a second line for the same jurisdiction to carry the surcharge, and a surcharge is always an amount due.
One published date that does not agree with itself
The department's licence and decals page says next year's decals may be displayed from one date in the autumn, while its own IFTA membership packet gives a later one. The two published dates disagree, so a carrier displaying early should keep the current year credentials in the vehicle and confirm with the Motor Carrier Services unit before relying on either.
Per-jurisdiction fuel tax rates are not a Washington fact and are not recorded on this page. They come from the quarterly IFTA, Inc. matrix, and the department mails the current schedule with each quarterly return.
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 Washington 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 Washington IRP. If you are still setting up, the full order of operations is in start a trucking company in Washington.
Frequently asked questions
Who administers IFTA in Washington?
- The Department of Licensing, through its Prorate and Fuel Tax Services unit. The same unit runs apportioned registration, so a carrier sets up both accounts in one place and files both in License Express.
What does a Washington IFTA licence cost?
- The licence itself carries no fee, and the department publishes that zero rather than leaving it blank. What a carrier pays for is decals, sold per set of two per qualified vehicle and ordered again each calendar year.
Do I need IFTA if I only run inside Washington?
- No. The licence exists for a Washington-based carrier running qualified vehicles in two or more member jurisdictions. A carrier that already holds one still files a return for every quarter, even a quarter spent entirely inside Washington.
When are Washington IFTA returns due?
- The last day of the month after each calendar quarter closes, moving to the next business day when that lands on a weekend or a Washington state holiday. A late return draws a penalty set as the greater of a flat amount or a share of the tax owed, plus interest.
What happens if Washington revokes my IFTA licence?
- You stop operating in every jurisdiction. The department revokes for unfiled returns, unpaid fuel taxes, an out of service IRP registration or a revoked account, after an intent to revoke notice and thirty days to fix the problem. Reinstatement takes a new application, every outstanding return, payment in full, a reinstatement fee and current year decals.
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.