IFTA Records: What to Keep, and for How Long

Not tax advice. This article describes record-keeping expectations in general terms. Requirements vary by jurisdiction. Confirm what your base jurisdiction requires of you.

Most operators know they should keep records. Fewer know for how long, and fewer still know exactly what a record has to contain to be worth anything. Those two gaps are what turn a routine audit into an expensive one.

This is the reference version: what to keep, what it must show, and how long it has to survive.

How long

IFTA licensees are generally expected to retain the records supporting their quarterly filings for four years from the filing date or due date, whichever is later.

Four years is longer than it sounds. A receipt from the first quarter of this year needs to still be findable in the spring four years from now. Thermal paper does not last that long in a glovebox — it fades to blank. That alone is reason enough to photograph receipts rather than keep the originals in the truck.

Your base jurisdiction sets the exact requirement, and some are stricter. Confirm yours rather than assuming four.

Distance records

Your distance records are what the quarterly figures are actually built from. For each trip, a defensible record generally shows:

• Date of trip, start and end
• Origin and destination
• Route of travel
• Beginning and ending odometer readings
• Total distance
• Distance by jurisdiction
• Vehicle and fleet identification

Where the data comes from — handwritten log, spreadsheet, GPS, telematics — matters less than whether it is complete and continuous. If you use GPS-derived distance, keep enough of the underlying record that the summary can be traced back to it. A total with nothing behind it is a claim rather than a record.

The most common weakness is the per-jurisdiction split. A trip log showing total miles only is not usable for IFTA, because the entire filing depends on where those miles happened.

Fuel records

For every purchase you intend to claim tax-paid credit on, the receipt generally needs to show:

• Date of purchase
• Seller name and address
• Number of gallons or litres
• Fuel type
• Price per unit or total amount
• Vehicle identification
• Purchaser name

Two things to note. First, a credit card statement is not a fuel receipt — it shows an amount paid, not gallons, fuel type or vehicle. Second, fuel you cannot evidence generally cannot be claimed as tax-paid, which raises what you owe.

Bulk fuel, if you keep your own tank, carries extra requirements: records of deliveries into the tank, withdrawals out of it, and inventory readings. Claiming credit on bulk fuel without withdrawal records is a frequent finding.

What "complete" means in practice

Auditors generally work by sampling. A quarter is picked, a few trips are traced end to end, and what happens next depends on whether the records hold together.

Three things make a set of records hold:

Continuity. Odometer readings run on from one trip to the next without unexplained gaps. A gap raises the question of what else is missing.

Reconciliation. Fuel purchased and distance travelled produce a plausible MPG. A fleet averaging 2 MPG or 15 MPG tells its own story before anyone reads a single receipt.

Traceability. Any figure on the quarterly worksheet can be followed back to the specific trips and receipts that produced it. A summary nobody can decompose is not evidence.

Keeping them findable, not just kept

Records that exist but cannot be produced on request are, practically speaking, records you do not have. A few habits that help:

• Photograph receipts at the pump. Before it fades, before it blows out the window, before the folder goes missing.
• Capture the jurisdiction split while you remember the route. Reconstruction from memory is where errors enter.
• Reconcile quarterly, not annually. Finding a missing month in April is recoverable. Finding it three years later is not.
• Keep retired vehicles' history. Selling the truck does not end the retention obligation for the quarters it ran.

If something is missing

It happens. A receipt is lost, a month of logs is gone.

Do not invent a replacement. Reconstructing a plausible-looking record is materially worse than a gap, and it changes the nature of the problem entirely if it is discovered.

Document what is missing and why, keep whatever partial evidence exists, and if the gap is significant, talk to a qualified professional about how your jurisdiction expects it to be handled.

The short version

Four years, as a working minimum, confirmed with your base jurisdiction. Distance records with the per-state split and continuous odometer readings. Fuel receipts with gallons, fuel type and vehicle, not just a card statement. Everything traceable from the worksheet back to the source.

The goal is not a filing cabinet. It is being able to answer "show me how you got this number" without a bad afternoon.

How WheelsAndAxle fits

Receipts are stored with a photo attached, carrying date, jurisdiction, gallons and fuel type. Trips carry the per-state split and the vehicle. The quarterly worksheet is built from those records, so every line can be followed back to what produced it. History stays attached to retired trucks, and the records remain available while your account is active.

We are not a tax advisor, CPA, or filing service, and we do not file on your behalf. Confirm your own retention requirements with your base jurisdiction.