By Evan Reid, Founder of Haul Handbook · Updated Sep 28, 2026
West Virginia splits IFTA between two agencies. The Division of Motor Vehicles' Motor Carrier Services Section issues the license and decals, and the Tax Division's Fuel Tax Administration Unit takes the quarterly returns and runs audits. There is no license fee; decals are $5.00 a set, and a carrier must be in good standing with the Tax Division before credentials issue.
West Virginia IFTA administration
- Agency
- West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, Motor Carrier Services Section (credentials); West Virginia Tax Division, Fuel Tax Administration Unit (returns and audits)
- License fee
- $0 (The Tax Division's IFTA manual states there is no fee for the application or license.)
- Decal fee
- $5 ($5.00 per set of two identically numbered decals, one set per qualified motor vehicle, on the new and renewal applications alike. Extra decals can be bought through the DMV's online services during the year.)
- Application
- Application for International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) Credentials (new carriers) or the IFTA Renewal Application
- Application: prerequisite
- A Letter of Good Standing from the Tax Division, requested on form GSR-01 or through MyTaxes, sent with the application.
- Application: where
- West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, Motor Carrier Services Office, 5707 MacCorkle Avenue SE, P.O. Box 17900, Charleston, WV 25317; telephone (304) 926-0799.
- Application: requirements
- Legal and trade name, physical address (no P.O. box), FEIN or SSN, USDOT and IRP numbers, officers or partners, fuel types, and the jurisdictions of operation and bulk fuel storage. One license covers the whole fleet. A reporting service filing for the carrier must be named on a notarized power of attorney section.
- Filing frequency
- Quarterly. Returns (Form IFTA-13) are due the last day of the month after each calendar quarter, or the next business day if that falls on a weekend or holiday. A return is required even for a quarter with no operation. West Virginia does not offer annual IFTA filing.
- Base jurisdiction: summary
- A carrier may license through West Virginia when its qualified vehicles are registered in West Virginia and travel in two or more IFTA jurisdictions including West Virginia, and it keeps operational control and records in West Virginia or makes them available for audit there.
- Base jurisdiction: established place of business
- A physical structure in West Virginia owned, leased or rented by the registrant, with a street address, open during normal business hours, with a publicly listed telephone, a permanent employee conducting the trucking business, and the fleet's operational records. Trucking business there must be more than credentialing, distance and fuel reporting, or answering a telephone.
- Late-filing penalty
- For failure to file, late filing or underpayment, the greater of $50.00 or 10 percent of the tax due, and the $50.00 applies even to a late return showing a credit. Interest is charged for each month or part of a month late, for each jurisdiction where tax is due, at the IFTA rate.
- Penalty: wording conflict
- The Tax Division's licensing page and IFTA manual phrase the minimum as $50.00 per month; the IFTA-13 return instructions (revised January 2024) say 10 percent of the balance due or $50.00, whichever is greater, with no per-month wording. Both are recorded because the sources differ.
More West Virginia IFTA rules
- Qualified motor vehicle: detail
- A vehicle used, designed or maintained to carry persons or property with two axles and a gross or registered gross weight over 26,000 lb, three or more axles regardless of weight, or a combination over 26,000 lb. Recreational vehicles are excluded, and recreational vehicles and U.S. government vehicles are the only vehicles West Virginia exempts from fuel tax licensing.
- Qualified motor vehicle: intrastate only
- Vehicles that never leave West Virginia do not qualify for IFTA and must not be registered for it; they are credentialed under the state's Motor Carrier Road Tax instead (see the state rules page).
- Filing portal: detail
- The Tax Division accepts IFTA returns online through MyTaxes and recommends it to make sure a return is filed on time; paper returns go to the address on the form and should be mailed at least three days before the due date.
- License period
- Calendar year, January 1 to December 31. Keep a copy of the license in each qualified vehicle; decals go on the exterior of both sides of the cab, never on a window.
- Renewal: detail
- Carriers in good standing receive a renewal application at least 30 days before the license expires and return it with the decal fees to the DMV before December 31. Renewal can also be filed through the DMV's online services. If no renewal notice arrives, call Taxpayer Services at (304) 558-3333.
- Recordkeeping
- Keep records supporting each return for four years from the due date or the filing date, whichever is later, and make them available to any member jurisdiction. Records should be kept in West Virginia; if they are not, the carrier is billed the auditor's travel expenses.
- Bond requirement
- Not normally required. A bond may be required after late filing or payment, a returned check, or an audit finding that a guarantee is needed.
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 West Virginia can ask you to post or produce, and what a late or wrong return costs. Each one is sourced.
- Qualified motor vehicle: Detail
- A vehicle used, designed or maintained to carry persons or property with two axles and a gross or registered gross weight over 26,000 lb, three or more axles regardless of weight, or a combination over 26,000 lb. Recreational vehicles are excluded, and recreational vehicles and U.S. government vehicles are the only vehicles West Virginia exempts from fuel tax licensing.
- Qualified motor vehicle: Intrastate only
- Vehicles that never leave West Virginia do not qualify for IFTA and must not be registered for it; they are credentialed under the state's Motor Carrier Road Tax instead (see the state rules page).
- Application: Form
- Application for International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) Credentials (new carriers) or the IFTA Renewal Application
- Application: Prerequisite
- A Letter of Good Standing from the Tax Division, requested on form GSR-01 or through MyTaxes, sent with the application.
- Application: Where
- West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, Motor Carrier Services Office, 5707 MacCorkle Avenue SE, P.O. Box 17900, Charleston, WV 25317; telephone (304) 926-0799.
- Application: Requirements
- Legal and trade name, physical address (no P.O. box), FEIN or SSN, USDOT and IRP numbers, officers or partners, fuel types, and the jurisdictions of operation and bulk fuel storage. One license covers the whole fleet. A reporting service filing for the carrier must be named on a notarized power of attorney section.
- License period
- Calendar year, January 1 to December 31. Keep a copy of the license in each qualified vehicle; decals go on the exterior of both sides of the cab, never on a window.
- Renewal: Detail
- Carriers in good standing receive a renewal application at least 30 days before the license expires and return it with the decal fees to the DMV before December 31. Renewal can also be filed through the DMV's online services. If no renewal notice arrives, call Taxpayer Services at (304) 558-3333.
- Penalties: Wording conflict
- The Tax Division's licensing page and IFTA manual phrase the minimum as $50.00 per month; the IFTA-13 return instructions (revised January 2024) say 10 percent of the balance due or $50.00, whichever is greater, with no per-month wording. Both are recorded because the sources differ.
- Penalties: Revocation
- Failing to file, pay or keep records gets the license revoked; every IFTA jurisdiction and West Virginia law enforcement is notified, and vehicles must not operate while it is revoked.
Who needs a West Virginia IFTA license
A qualified motor vehicle runs in two or more IFTA jurisdictions and meets the axle and weight test: two axles over the weight line, three or more axles at any weight, or a combination over the weight line. A carrier bases in West Virginia when its qualified vehicles are registered here and it keeps operational control and records here, at an established place of business with real trucking activity.
Trucks that never leave the state are the exception. They do not qualify for IFTA and must not be registered for it.
Applying through the DMV
Send the Application for IFTA Credentials to the DMV's Motor Carrier Services office in Charleston with a Letter of Good Standing from the Tax Division, requested on form GSR-01 or through MyTaxes. The application asks for the USDOT and IRP numbers, the fuel types and the jurisdictions of operation. One license covers the whole fleet, and a reporting service filing for you must be named on a notarized power of attorney.
The license carries no fee; decals are priced per set. A bond is not normally required, but can be demanded after missed returns or payments.
Quarterly returns and the penalty wording
Returns on Form IFTA-13 are due the last day of the month after each quarter, or the next business day. File even for a quarter with no operation; West Virginia offers no annual filing. The Tax Division accepts returns through MyTaxes and recommends it.
Late filing costs the greater of a flat minimum or a percentage of the tax due, plus interest. The sources disagree on one point: the licensing page and IFTA manual phrase the minimum per month, while the current return instructions do not. Both readings are recorded.
Records, renewal and revocation
Keep the records behind each return for four years and keep them in West Virginia, or pay the auditor's travel. The license runs the calendar year; carry a copy in each qualified vehicle and put decals on both sides of the cab, never on a window. Carriers in good standing get a renewal application at least a month before expiry and return it with the decal fees before year end.
Failing to file, pay or keep records gets the license revoked, every IFTA jurisdiction is told, and the trucks must stop running.
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 4Q 2026, effective Oct 1, 2026 through Dec 31, 2026, provisional until Dec 4, 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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia IRP. If you are still setting up, the full order of operations is in start a trucking company in West Virginia.