Reviewed by Anil Rajput, CPA · Last reviewed August 2026
Quick answer: IFTA requires two record sets: distance records showing every mile by jurisdiction, and fuel records documenting every purchase. Both must be kept four years from the return due date or filing date, whichever is later. IFTA has no radius exemption, so every mile counts, including empty, bobtail, personal, and intrastate.
This guide is general information for owner-operators and small trucking businesses, not personalized tax or compliance advice. Requirements vary by base jurisdiction and change over time. Verify against your own jurisdiction and the IFTA Procedures Manual before relying on any of it.
Why do the records matter more than the return?
An IFTA return is arithmetic on numbers you supply, and nobody checks those numbers when you file. They get checked years later, in an audit, against the records behind them. If the records are missing or inadequate, the auditor is not obliged to accept what you reported, and the assessment that follows is built on their assumptions rather than your operations.
That is the whole game. Filing on time protects you from late penalties. Records protect you from everything else.
What distance records does IFTA require?
The core document is the individual vehicle distance record, kept for every qualified vehicle. Whether you produce it by hand or from a tracking system, it needs to show:
- Trip start and end dates, and trip origin and destination
- Routes travelled
- Beginning and ending odometer readings for the trip
- Total trip distance, broken out by jurisdiction
- Vehicle unit number, and fleet number where applicable
Those records roll up into a quarterly summary showing total and jurisdictional distance and fuel for the whole fleet. The summary is what an auditor reconciles against your filed returns, and carriers who never built one struggle badly.
The rule that catches almost everyone
IFTA has no short-haul radius exemption. Federal hours of service rules have one, and drivers working inside that exemption assume the same logic covers fuel tax. It does not. IFTA requires every mile recorded: interjurisdictional and intrastate, loaded and empty, deadhead, bobtail, and personal use.
This matters because unrecorded miles do not vanish. They widen the gap between your odometer and your reported distance, and that gap is the first thing an auditor looks for. For how the jurisdictional split is calculated, see how to calculate IFTA miles by state.
Does an ELD satisfy the requirement?
Often not, and this is the most expensive assumption in the subject. An ELD is built for hours of service, a different regulation with different data and a different retention period. Hours of service data is commonly kept six months. IFTA needs four years.
Where distance records come from a system using latitude and longitude, IFTA sets specific requirements. A record must be created at least every ten minutes while the engine is running, and each reading must include:
- The vehicle identification number or unit number
- The date and time of the reading
- Latitude and longitude to at least four decimal places
- The odometer reading from the engine control module, or beginning and ending dashboard or hubodometer readings for the trip
Check two things with your provider in writing: whether the system captures all four elements at that interval, and how long it retains the raw data. If retention is short, export every quarter and archive it yourself.
What fuel records do you need?
Complete records of all fuel purchased, received, and used, with separate totals for each fuel type, and with retail purchases and bulk storage accounted for separately. Only properly documented tax-paid purchases earn you credit, so a missing receipt is not a paperwork problem, it is a direct cost.
A retail receipt generally needs the purchase date, the seller's name and address, the number of gallons, the fuel type, the price per gallon or total sale, and the vehicle unit number. Bulk storage adds a layer, since you must track withdrawals as well as deliveries and show the fuel went into qualified vehicles.
How long do you keep everything?
Four years from the return due date or the filing date, whichever is later, plus any extension from waivers or jeopardy assessments. There is a sting attached: if you fail to produce records demanded for an audit, the retention requirement and the statute of limitations extend until you provide them. You cannot outlast an audit by losing the paperwork.
In practice, keep everything longer than four years. IRP retention runs longer than IFTA in most jurisdictions and the same distance data feeds both, so many carriers hold distance and fuel records for six and a half years and stop thinking about which programme wants what.
Frequently asked questions
An individual vehicle distance record for every qualified vehicle, showing trip dates, origin and destination, routes, beginning and ending odometer readings, total distance split by jurisdiction, and the unit number. Those feed a quarterly fleet summary that reconciles to your filed returns.
Four years from the return due date or the date you filed, whichever is later. Failing to produce records for an audit extends that period until you produce them. Because IRP retention runs longer and uses the same data, keeping everything six and a half years is the simpler habit.
Do not assume so. ELDs are built for hours of service, which has different data requirements and often only six months of retention. Confirm your system records position at least every ten minutes with the engine on, captures unit number, timestamp, latitude and longitude to four decimals, and odometer, and retains it long enough.
Yes. IFTA has no radius exemption of the kind hours of service provides. Every mile a qualified vehicle travels must be recorded, including intrastate, loaded, empty, deadhead, bobtail, and personal use. Unrecorded miles create a gap between odometer and reported distance that auditors look for first.
Generally the date, the seller's name and address, gallons purchased, fuel type, price per gallon or total sale, and the vehicle unit number. Retail and bulk purchases are tracked separately, with individual totals by fuel type. Undocumented purchases do not earn tax-paid credit.
The auditor stops relying on your figures and applies an assessment based on their own methodology, which rarely favours the carrier. Some jurisdictions reduce your audited fuel economy by a set percentage. Repeated failures can also put your IFTA licence at risk, so this is a compliance issue as well as a tax one.
Records that hold up four years later
IFTA recordkeeping fails slowly and invisibly, and you find out years after the miles were run. Ace Global gives owner-operators and small fleets a dedicated bookkeeper backed by CPAs who keeps distance and fuel records organised, builds the quarterly summaries auditors ask for, and archives everything for the full retention period. Flat pricing, no long-term contracts, answers on WhatsApp or iMessage. Get started with Ace Global today.
Related reading
- How do you calculate IFTA miles by state?
- When are the 2026 IFTA deadlines?
- What triggers an IRS audit for truck drivers?
- Why is the cheapest diesel not the cheapest fuel?
Sources
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax or compliance advice. IFTA requirements are administered by your base jurisdiction and vary in detail. Verify with your jurisdiction and a qualified professional before acting.