Not tax advice. This is general information for truckers, not tax or legal advice. Rules and rates change, so verify the details with your base jurisdiction or a qualified tax professional before you file.

Non-IFTA Miles: Alaska, Hawaii, DC, Mexico and the Territories on an IFTA Report

The members of IFTA are the 48 contiguous US states and the 10 Canadian provinces. Alaska, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, Mexico and Canada's three territories (Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut) are not on that list, so they sit outside IFTA.

Miles run in those places are not just dropped. Under the IFTA rules they still go into the fleet's total miles, and fuel put in the tank there still goes into total fuel. Those totals are what the fleet's miles per gallon is worked out from.

This post covers how those miles and that fuel show up on the quarterly form a carrier sends to its base jurisdiction. It does not cover what Mexico, Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut ask of a truck that drives there. Those governments are the ones to ask about their own rules.

Which places are outside IFTA?

IFTA, Inc. says it in one line: the 48 contiguous states and the 10 provinces are the members. That leaves out:

• Alaska and Hawaii, which are not among the 48 contiguous states
• The District of Columbia, which is not a state
• Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, which are territories, not provinces
• Mexico

The word "jurisdiction" can muddy this. The IFTA Articles of Agreement define a jurisdiction as a US state, the District of Columbia, a Canadian province or territory, or a Mexican state. So DC and Yukon are "jurisdictions" in IFTA's own words. Being a jurisdiction is not the same as being a member.

That matters on the form. The IFTA report breaks out in-jurisdiction miles for each member jurisdiction. In IFTA's own rules, the non-member places come in through the totals, as the rest of this post shows.

Does a run into Mexico or Alaska need an IFTA licence?

Under the Articles, a carrier based in a member jurisdiction that runs a qualified motor vehicle in two or more member jurisdictions has to hold an IFTA licence, apart from some exceptions the Articles set out. The test counts member jurisdictions.

Texas's IFTA guidebook, Publication 96-336, covers one such case. It says carriers that travel only between Texas and Mexico cannot apply for an IFTA licence. They need either a Texas interstate trucker licence or a fuel trip permit each time a qualified motor vehicle enters Texas. This post does not cover how other base states treat that case.

A carrier based outside IFTA, say in Alaska or Mexico, is handled another way. The Articles let that carrier apply for an IFTA licence to any member jurisdiction it runs in, and that jurisdiction may accept or reject the application.

Getting a first licence in general is covered in IFTA for new owner-operators.

Do non-IFTA miles count in total miles?

Yes. The Articles define total distance as all miles or kilometres run in the period by every qualified vehicle in the fleet, whether a jurisdiction treats them as taxable or not. The Procedures Manual says the report carries the total distance run in all jurisdictions, trip-permit running included.

Florida's guide to its quarterly form spells it out. Its MPG is all miles run, in both IFTA and non-IFTA jurisdictions, divided by all fuel, IFTA and non-IFTA, put in the trucks' tanks.

So the miles a qualified vehicle runs in Alaska or Mexico still go into the total miles on the report. Which miles count at all (deadhead, personal, off-highway) is in our post on which miles count for IFTA.

What about fuel bought in Alaska, DC or Mexico?

It goes in too. The IFTA, Inc. Board has found that all fuel put in the tanks of qualified vehicles, receipted or not and taxed or not, must be reported to work out the MPG and the fuel taxes.

Texas's instructions show where this turns up. The purchased gallons listed for member jurisdictions have to add up to total gallons purchased, unless fuel was bought in a non-IFTA jurisdiction such as the District of Columbia, among other cases. So fuel from outside IFTA is one reason those two figures may differ on a Texas report.

Why taxable gallons and gallons bought differ in general is in why taxable gallons don't match fuel purchased.

Which places count as "non-IFTA" on the form?

Texas and California, for two, ask about these miles in their own way.

Texas's report asks, for each fuel type, for the total miles run in non-IFTA jurisdictions by the fleet's qualified vehicles. California's online form asks it straight out: Did you travel through any Non-IFTA Jurisdictions?

Texas's fuels FAQ and California's online form do not list the same places:

Place	Named by Texas's FAQ	Named by California's online form
Alaska	Yes	Yes
District of Columbia	Yes	Yes
Hawaii	Not named	Yes
Mexico	Yes	Yes
Northwest Territories	Yes	Yes
Nunavut	Not named	Yes
Yukon	Yes	Yes

The Texas Comptroller's FAQ names the Northwest Territories, Yukon, Mexico, Alaska and the District of Columbia as the places for its non-IFTA miles line. California's list adds Hawaii and Nunavut.

Because the lists differ, this post cannot give one list for every base jurisdiction. Which places go on that line is a question for the carrier's own base jurisdiction.

Two kinds of miles stay off Texas's non-IFTA line. Texas says miles in Oregon and miles run on a fuel trip permit go in total IFTA miles, not in non-IFTA miles.

Alaska, Hawaii and DC: who pays their fuel tax?

These three tax fuel in their own way, outside IFTA.

• Alaska levies a motor fuel tax and a surcharge on motor fuel sold, transferred or used in Alaska. The Department of Revenue's Tax Division collects it mainly from wholesalers and distributors that hold its "qualified dealer" licences.
• Hawaii's fuel tax is a tax on distributors for each gallon of liquid fuel they sell or use in the state.
• DC's motor vehicle fuel tax is imposed on every importer of motor fuels, diesel included.

The lines quoted here speak to dealers, distributors and importers. This post does not cover whether Alaska, Hawaii or DC asks anything of an out-of-state carrier whose truck comes in with fuel bought somewhere else. Their own tax offices are the place to ask.

Mexico and Canada's territories: what this post does not cover

The Texas Comptroller says carriers that travel in non-IFTA jurisdictions must follow those jurisdictions' procedures and file the reports their rules require, even if they hold an IFTA licence.

This post does not cover what Mexico, Yukon, the Northwest Territories or Nunavut require. What fuel tax, permit or report a truck needs there is a question for those governments. What this post covers is the IFTA side only: miles there go in total miles, fuel put in the tank there goes in total fuel, and the base jurisdiction's form says where.

The short version

• IFTA's members are the 48 contiguous states and the 10 Canadian provinces.
• Alaska, Hawaii, DC, Mexico, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are outside it.
• Under IFTA's rules, miles run there count in total miles, and fuel put in the tank there counts in total fuel.
• Carriers that run only between Texas and Mexico cannot apply for an IFTA licence, Texas says; they need either a Texas interstate trucker licence or a fuel trip permit each time a qualified motor vehicle enters Texas.
• Texas's FAQ and California's online form list non-IFTA places differently. Which places go on the non-IFTA line is a question for each base jurisdiction.
• On Texas's report, Oregon miles and trip-permit miles are IFTA miles.
• What Mexico, the territories, Alaska, Hawaii and DC ask of a visiting truck is a question for their own governments.

When something here differs from what your base jurisdiction says, their word wins.

This post describes IFTA's and the states' rules, not how a WheelsAndAxle worksheet works out its figures. A WheelsAndAxle worksheet is a preparation aid for review before filing.

Sources

• IFTA, Inc. — Carriers — checked 2026-10-13
• IFTA, Inc. — IFTA Articles of Agreement (August 2025 edition) — checked 2026-10-13
• IFTA, Inc. — IFTA Procedures Manual (August 2025 edition) — checked 2026-10-13
• Florida HSMV — Form HSMV 85800 (4/16), guide to the IFTA quarterly tax form — checked 2026-10-13
• Texas Comptroller — IFTA quarterly report help — checked 2026-10-13
• Texas Comptroller — Fuels taxes FAQ — checked 2026-10-13
• Texas Comptroller — Publication 96-336, IFTA guidebook (revised August 2026; the lines quoted here are also in the July 2025 edition) — checked 2026-10-13
• California CDTFA — CA IFTA online filing instructions — checked 2026-10-13
• Alaska Department of Revenue, Tax Division — Motor fuel tax — checked 2026-10-13
• State of Hawaii — Tax Facts 99-1, fuel tax (revised May 2025) — checked 2026-10-13
• District of Columbia — Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax — checked 2026-10-13