Motor Fuel Use Tax General Overview

Since October 1, 1977, Illinois has imposed a motor fuel use tax on fuel used by interstate commercial motor vehicles. Revenues collected from this tax help, in part, to build and maintain roads and highways.

If you are an Illinois-based carrier operating qualified motor vehicles interstate, you are subject to Illinois' International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) program requirements. IFTA is a motor fuel use tax agreement in which the carrier's base jurisdiction (a US state Canadian province) administers motor fuel use taxes for all IFTA jurisdictions and apportions payments to those jurisdictions. IFTA does not, however, administer other state requirements, such as vehicle licensing, operating authority, and non-highway fuel tax refunds. For more information on the following topics, see MFUT-53, Illinois International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) Carrier Compliance Manual.

• 35 ILCS 505/13a

IFTA is the International Fuel Tax Agreement, a multijurisdictional agreement between the 48 contiguous States and the 10 Canadian Provinces bordering the United States. The purpose of this Agreement is to enable the participating jurisdictions to act cooperatively and provide mutual assistance in the administration and collection of motor fuels use taxes.

Your first step is to decide if Illinois is your base jurisdiction. Illinois is your base jurisdiction if all the following apply:

• Your qualified motor vehicles are based in Illinois for vehicle registration with the Illinois Secretary of State,
• You perform operations from an established physical place of business in Illinois (a post office box, shipping store address, virtual office, or agent address does not qualify), 
• Illinois is where your operational control and operational records of your qualified motor vehicles are maintained or can be made available, and
• Your qualified motor vehicles within a fleet accrue miles on Illinois highways.

If your base jurisdiction is Illinois, you must electronically submit Form MFUT-12, Application for Motor Fuel Use Tax, IFTA License, and Decals, using MyTax Illinois to register for motor fuel use tax and receive proper Illinois IFTA credentials. 

If Illinois is not your base jurisdiction, you must contact the state or Canadian province in which you are based for specific registration instructions. 

MyTax Illinois allows you to register and maintain your IFTA accounts and file and pay your IFTA returns, as well as manage other Illinois tax accounts.

Prior to accessing your accounts in MyTax Illinois, you must have previously submitted Form MFUT-12, Motor Fuel Use Tax IFTA License and Decals Application, or had active IFTA accounts in the past.

You must activate a MyTax Illinois logon to access your accounts. Select "Sign Up" to create your user account and select your username and password. After submitting your activation request, you will receive an email from MyTax Illinois indicating the status of your request.

MyTax Illinois uses two-step verification to confirm that only authorized users are accessing taxpayer accounts. Two-step verification requires a user to enter a security code during the logon process. The security code is a security enhancement to help protect your account. When you first set up two-step verification, you can choose to receive this code by email to an address you provide or by using an authenticator app. A new code will be provided to you by the method you select each time you log in to MyTax Illinois. This two-step verification ensures that only one user will have access to a username and password. 

For more information, see the MyTax Illinois Help web page.

Yes. You must file Form MFUT-15, IFTA Quarterly Return, to report your carrier operations (distance traveled and fuel use). Returns are due by the last day of the month immediately following the close of the quarter. Quarterly filing periods are:

• January 1 – March 31 (return due April 30)
• April 1 – June 30 (return due July 31)
• July 1 – September 30 (return due October 31)
• October 1 – December 31 (return due January 31)

When submitting IFTA quarterly returns electronically through your MyTax Illinois account, you will need your fleet's total miles traveled in both IFTA and non-IFTA jurisdictions, the breakdown of the total number of miles driven in each jurisdiction, and the total volume of fuel purchased in each jurisdiction. Note that once you are issued a license and decals, you must file a return, regardless of whether your vehicle(s) left the state or operated at all during the quarter.

Any person (individual, corporation, partnership, association, trust, or other entity) based in a member jurisdiction operating a qualified motor vehicle(s) in two or more member jurisdictions [interstate commerce] is required to obtain a license under the Agreement. A qualified motor vehicle (QMV) is a motor vehicle that is used, designed, or maintained for transportation of persons or property, and 

• has two axles and a gross vehicle weight or registered gross vehicle weight exceeding 26,000 pounds (11,797 kilograms);
• has three or more axles, regardless of weight; or
• is used in combination, when the weight of such combination exceeds 26,000 pounds (11,797 kilograms) gross vehicle weight or registered gross vehicle weight. A QMV does not include recreational vehicles.

Note: Under Illinois’ Motor Fuel Tax Law, commercial motor vehicles are QMV. This term does not include motor vehicles operated by the State of Illinois or the United States, recreational vehicles, school buses and commercial motor vehicles operated solely within Illinois for which all motor fuel is purchased within this State.

Click here if you have these types of vehicles and need to register.

Your valid IFTA license and decals allow you to operate in all IFTA jurisdictions. These credentials are good for one calendar year and must be renewed between October 1 and December 31 for the following year.

To renew your credentials, you must electronically submit Form MFUT-12, Motor Fuel Use Tax IFTA License and Decals Application, using MyTax Illinois.

Decals are issued in sets of two. One set of decals is required for each QMV you intend to operate.

IFTA licensees who submit renewal applications prior to January 1 are provided a grace period to receive the new sets of decals and affix them to their qualified motor vehicles. The grace period ends the last day of February.

The grace period is not an extension for licensees to file a renewal application. Licensees who fail to renew prior to January 1 are not afforded a grace period and their IFTA license status will show as suspended.

The following QMV are exempt from registering for the Motor Fuel Use Tax in Illinois:

• recreational vehicles registered as recreational vehicles,
• school buses (must have school bus license plates),
• state of Illinois or federal vehicles,
• and QMV operating solely within Illinois for which all motor fuel is purchased within Illinois.

You may purchase a single trip permit for each jurisdiction through which you intend to travel. Single trip permits allow you to travel temporarily into or through a jurisdiction without registering for IFTA. A single trip permit is valid for a period of 96 hours. To obtain single trip permits, contact an authorized permit provider.

The rolling stock exemption applies to sales taxes and not IFTA. For more information regarding tax exemptions for rolling stock, refer to 86 Ill. Adm. Code 130.340 and 35 ILCS 120/2-50 and 2-51. Please also see the rolling stock certification forms and instructions as well as specific sales tax form instructions available on our Aircraft, Vehicles, and Watercraft Sales & Use Tax Forms web page. In addition, both ST-9, A Guide for Reporting Sales Using Form ST-556, Sales Tax Transaction Return, and ST-9-LSE, A Guide for Reporting Sales Using Form ST-556-LSE, Transaction Return for Leases, contain information regarding the rolling stock exemption.