• The IFTA requires carriers to account for all issued decals to avoid penalties and fraud accusations.
• A decal inventory sheet should be used to keep track of carrier decal information.
• Although monthly and quarterly summaries are no longer required by the IFTA, carriers must still compile regular reports in case of an audit.

IFTA decals

The International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) requires carriers to display two IFTA decals per qualified vehicle. In an audit, carriers may be required to account for the decals that have been issued to the company. Jurisdictions want to ensure that the decals are being used legally and appropriately.

Why decal count matters

In an audit, carriers need a way to account for the decals that have been lost or need replacing. Carriers may also need to account for decals that haven’t yet been used. Carriers who cannot account for the decals that have been issued to the company may face penalties and/or assessments.

How to keep track

To help keep track of company decals, carriers can create a decal inventory sheet. This is a simple sheet — paper or electronic — that includes:

• The IFTA license year,
• The vehicle identification information,
• The serial numbers of the IFTA decals on the vehicle, and
• A comments section to enter notes about the vehicle and its decals.

For example, if a vehicle lost one of its decals, the carrier could document that the vehicle was issued a new decal. Or, if a vehicle was sold or in a collision, the carrier could document these types of situations on an inventory sheet, along with information on the replacement decals placed on the vehicle.

Reports

Monthly, quarterly, and yearly recaps or reports are prepared from the Individual Vehicle Mileage Record (IVMR) information. Computer summaries are not acceptable at face value and must always be supported by IVMRs, appropriate electronic logging device (ELD)/global positioning system (GPS) data, and the appropriate fuel documents during an audit.

The IFTA changed in July 2016 to no longer require monthly and quarterly summaries. This information must still be compiled, however, if the jurisdiction requests the summaries for an efficient audit of the carrier’s records. While summaries may not be specifically required, it is strongly encouraged that carriers continue to create such summaries as part of the carriers’ IFTA internal controls.