IFTA filing deadlines, 2026–2028
An IFTA return is due on the last day of the month after the quarter closes. When that date lands on a weekend it moves to the next business day — every date below already has that applied.
Weekend shifting only. A state holiday can also move a due date, and holiday calendars differ by year and by jurisdiction — CabPurser does not guess at one, so confirm the date with your own base jurisdiction before you rely on it.
Reporting quarter to due date
| Quarter | Covers | Return due |
|---|---|---|
| 1Q2026January – March | Jan 1 – Mar 31, 2026 | Thu Apr 30, 2026 |
| 2Q2026April – June | Apr 1 – Jun 30, 2026 | Fri Jul 31, 2026 |
| 3Q2026July – September | Jul 1 – Sep 30, 2026 | Mon Nov 2, 2026 moved from Oct 31 |
| 4Q2026October – December | Oct 1 – Dec 31, 2026 | Mon Feb 1, 2027 moved from Jan 31 |
| 1Q2027January – March | Jan 1 – Mar 31, 2027 | Fri Apr 30, 2027 |
| 2Q2027April – June | Apr 1 – Jun 30, 2027 | Mon Aug 2, 2027 moved from Jul 31 |
| 3Q2027July – September | Jul 1 – Sep 30, 2027 | Mon Nov 1, 2027 moved from Oct 31 |
| 4Q2027October – December | Oct 1 – Dec 31, 2027 | Mon Jan 31, 2028 |
| 1Q2028January – March | Jan 1 – Mar 31, 2028 | Mon May 1, 2028 moved from Apr 30 |
| 2Q2028April – June | Apr 1 – Jun 30, 2028 | Mon Jul 31, 2028 |
| 3Q2028July – September | Jul 1 – Sep 30, 2028 | Tue Oct 31, 2028 |
| 4Q2028October – December | Oct 1 – Dec 31, 2028 | Wed Jan 31, 2029 |
Dates computed by the same function the product uses, not typed by hand. A row in grey has already passed.
What the deadline actually obliges you to do
These are the interstate rules, quoted from the agreement itself rather than summarised from a vendor's blog post.
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File even at zero
A quarterly return is due even if you did not operate or buy fuel in any IFTA jurisdiction that quarter. A quarter with nothing in it is still a filed return, not a skipped one.
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Late is per month
Interest accrues for each month or fraction of a month the tax is unpaid — a return one day past due accrues a whole month's interest, and it is calculated separately for every jurisdiction on the return.
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The penalty is not a flat fee
$50.00 or 10 percent of the delinquent taxes, whichever is greater. The percentage side has no ceiling, and it applies to underpaying just as much as to filing late. Your base jurisdiction may add penalties of its own on top of that.
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Where the rate comes from
For a US-based fleet the interest rate is two percentage points above the IRS underpayment rate under IRC §6621(a)(2), reset every January 1, accruing monthly at one twelfth of it. So it moves year to year — check the current one rather than reusing last year's.
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Postmark is not the rule everywhere
What counts as filed on time — postmark, electronic receipt, or delivery — is set by your base jurisdiction, not by IFTA. Check yours rather than assuming the one you used to run under.
Penalty and interest above are from IFTA's own governing document — Articles of Agreement R1220.100, R1220.300, R1230.100 and R1230.300.005 (rev. 2026-03-11). The due-date table and the zero-activity rule are from Florida HSMV Form 85800 (rev. 4/16), one state's published instructions for the same agreement. Your base jurisdiction publishes its own schedule and administers its own penalties — read that one before you file.
Knowing the date is the easy half
The hard half is having the quarter's miles and gallons ready when it arrives. That is what CabPurser is being built to do for 1–10 truck carriers.
Goes to a person, not a drip sequence.